Spanish hotels slam new rule set to 'spark chaos' in holiday hotspots

Spanish hospitality bosses have issued warning over a new registration scheme that will require hotels to provide more than a dozen extra pieces of customer information to authorities, which could cause "chaos" for businesses.

New rules set to come into effect on October 1 will require hotels, vehicle rental firms, and travel agencies to collect 18 additional details, in a move authorities say will help protect the public against organised crime and terrorism.

But the Confederation of Spanish Hoteliers and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT), an organisation representing the hotel sector in the country, claims the change "puts the viability of the sector in serious danger".

Among the data that must be collected by firms are: home addresses, mobile numbers, email addresses, payment methods, and contract details.

CEHAT, which represents more than 16,000 tourist establishments, argued that a ruling in 2022 by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), makes clear the collection of personal data of tourists must only be what is strictly necessary - and claims the new rules go beyond this.

The federation said in a statement: "The collection and storage of data, as proposed, does not respect the principles of proportionality and minimisation, which could generate sanctions, legal actions and greater legal uncertainty for the obligated subjects.

"Furthermore, the regulations imply a significant interference in the privacy rights of tourists and users without offering clear safeguards, limiting massive data collection to specific and justified cases," it added.

In 2016, the European Parliament and Council adopted a Directive on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data to aid the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crimes, according to the European Union website.

The allows for the collection of names, flight information, addresses, travel itinerary, payment information, baggage information and more all of which can be shared with law enforcement authorities in EU member countries.

But the ECJ ruling found that the system "must cover only clearly identifiable and circumscribed information".

The system should only be applied in cases where "terrorist offences and serious crime having an objective link, even if only an indirect one, with the carriage of passengers by air", the ruling added.

CEHAT has called for the rules to be revised, arguing it is "It is impossible to automate the process and it would involve additional and disproportionate manual work for establishments and a considerable increase in errors."

Hoteliers will have to submit the additional information to Spanish Ministry of Interior, with warnings issued about it some months ago, according to reports.

A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said in a statement: "The regulation respects the principle of efficiency, proportionality, judicial security and transparency.

"It is justified for the general interest for the security of citizens against the threat of terrorism and other serious offences committed by criminal organisations."