What does the new decree include?
The Ministry of Interior has already approved in October 2021. decree Good imposes new obligations on persons involved in accommodation and car rental services.
Hotel, apartment and other accommodation owners are required to keep an electronic record of their guests. This information must be sent to the authorities within 24 hours, who will keep the information for 3 years.
The decree has been in effect for several years, but it is only from October 1, 2024 that companies will really be penalized if they do not provide certain data.
What additional information do the Spanish authorities want?
It is not uncommon for accommodation owners to ask for information such as an ID card or passport. Due to the new decree, which will be validated from October 1, a lot of (wonderful) data will be added.
This is what the Spanish government agreed to. Decree Tourists must share their bank account, phone number, email address and details of their current accommodation with their accommodation or car rental company.
The number of people travelling to the accommodation must also be indicated, and if the travellers are minors, their relationship to the rest of the group must be indicated.
What happens to the aggregated data?
The fact that there is so much additional information expected raises questions. Especially when it comes to tourists’ privacy. For European travelers, sharing some information may be in violation of European privacy legislation.
The FPS Foreign Affairs says that “European data protection laws provide a framework in which the processing of citizens’ personal data must meet certain conditions.” It is not clear how this happens.
When data is leaked – as has happened in recent data leaks around the world – it’s a risk. For example, the Spanish government wants to check your credit card details and banking information to see if you can afford to pay for accommodation, but that raises the question of whether that financial data will be adequately protected. There’s also little clarity around this.
Why does Spain introduce these rules?
The fact that the Spanish government wants so much specific data from tourists is for national security. This is stated in the decree. Concretely, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is about protection against threats such as terrorism and organized crime.
“The decision aims to improve monitoring options by recording data on guests and tenants, especially since, according to the Spanish authorities, these sectors are used by criminals to organize logistics services.”
What does this mean for (Belgian) tourism companies?
Many new obligations mainly affect the work of travel organizations, car rental companies and accommodation rental services. They will have to do more management because they are responsible for collecting data.
in press release You can read how this actually works for tourism companies. To see how it works, the Spanish government has set up an online platform where companies can register.
The FPS Foreign Affairs points out that the tourism sector has been given enough time to familiarise itself with the regulations. “All those involved have had almost 3 years to comply with the Spanish measure. In fact, the majority of the sector appears to have been complying with this legislation for some time.”
What does this mean for Belgian tourists travelling to Spain?
Escaping the new regulations will be difficult as a tourist from October 1. The FPS therefore recommends respecting local legislation. “If citizens want to travel to Spain, they will have to provide the required information.”
From October 1, the owner of the accommodation you are staying at or the owner of the car rental company will be obliged to collect your comprehensive data. It is their responsibility, but the details must be shared within 24 hours of arrival.
If you have already booked your trip to Spain before October 1, the data you have already shared with the government will also be shared. Since this data may be less comprehensive than required by the new rules, you may receive additional questions from the authorities about that additional data.
The FPS Foreign Affairs points out that Belgians can always contact: The competent Spanish authorities.
