Tourists in Barcelona, Spain
New “42-point rule” threatens the desire to “tourist” to Spain — which has to be especially concerned about its “golden goose” worth 20 billion euros.
British tourism in Spain could be at risk after security measures come into force in accommodation.
The measures, which require hosts to have greater control over travelers’ personal data from this Monday onwards, have already begun to motivate boycott of travel to Spain in the United Kingdom, and Portugal’s neighbor thus risks losing its main tourist source market.
In 2023, tourism represented 12.8% of Spanish GDP, equivalent to 186,596 million euros, according to data from . The British played a fundamental role in this recipe: they spent 19.9 billion euros — 18,4% do total.
Spain received 17.3 million British tourists last year, which represents 20.4% of the total and makes the United Kingdom the leader in arrivals and expenditure, above France and Germany.
The 42 (controversial) points
The new rules, which came into force on the 2nd, oblige hotels and car rental companies to record customers’ personal data daily and keep them for three years.
Anyone with 14 years or older will need to provide a series of information, with up to 42 additional details, in addition to first and last name, including gender, nationality, date of birth, passport number, identification numbers, address, email addresses, telephone and cell phone numbers, passport number or possibly even credit card numbers.
Anyone under 14 will not need to provide this additional information — but anyone accompanying these minors is now required to explain their family relationship with them.
Failure to comply with these obligations by hotel services results in fines that can go up to 30 thousand euros.
In addition to being valid for “hotels, hostels, guesthouses, inns, rural tourism establishments, similar establishments” or campsites, the rule is also intended for vehicle rentalsthroughout the national territory.
“I’m not going to Spain anymore”
The discontent of the British was quickly reflected in the country’s media. It’s a bureaucratic barrier extra that doesn’t seem worth visiting Spain, in the eyes of some.
This Monday, the diary describes the new rules as a source of “fury” and addresses a possible “boycott” of British tourism in Spain.
It is already collecting testimonies from citizens who have assured that they will never travel to Spain again. “I spent many years going to Spain, but I never. If they don’t want us, we’re not welcome… and who wants to go places where they’re not welcome?” asks a British citizen.
“Complex and tedious” procedures
The Ministry of the Interior said the measure aims to reinforce security against threats such as terrorism and organized crime. The authorities want to control who is staying and cross-check their personal data with “persons of interest” databases.
The country’s trend is not new. At the moment, Spain is the only EU country where hotel owners are forced to send tourists’ identification details and passports to the police, instead of keeping them themselves.
Critics of the “rule of 42” say it is disproportionate and confused. Who shares this last opinion is the hotel association CEHAT, which believes that the regulation contradicts European directives on data protection and “seriously puts the viability of the sector at risk”.
Furthermore, the new procedures can cause delays at check-in counters and spoil the tourist experience, especially because the customer may have to provide the same data up to three times for the same stay.
“If you book with an agency, then go to the hotel and have a rental car, everyone has to enter the data. Therefore, they can be doubled or tripled”, explains Carlos Garrido, president of the association.
Not only tourists, but Spanish citizens themselves will be faced with “complex and tedious administrative procedures“, concludes the representative of the hotel sector.
On the owners’ side, the indignation is related to the fact that the new measure does not exist in other sectors, but also to the lack of support. And they are the only ones who can suffer from the measure, as there are no sanctions for guests.
“We are not aware of anything“, confesses an owner of a tourist accommodation in Ávila to the Spanish newspaper: “We don’t know anything and no one bothered to explain it to us”.
The initial impact of the measure has already been felt. On the first day of application of the rule, the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior suffered technical interruptions due to an update in the Data Processing Center. The new registration is on the ses.hospedajes application, managed by the State Secretariat for Security of the Ministry of the Interior.
However, hotel platforms, such as Airbnbnotified their hosts of the need to register in order to comply with the regulation.
Tomás Guimarães, ZAP //
