Angry hotel owners in Spain are furious with new laws that are set to come in at the start of October. New restrictions on British tourists will mean they have to give more details to the landlord they are renting from or the hotel they are staying at.
The information required will include bank account details, car rentals, and more. Now, Spanish hoteliers are warning that the new rules will just cause chaos and confusion.
They add that the collection of some information could contravene tourists’ rights.
A Spanish hotel association spokesperson said: “There is widespread confusion regarding what data is required and how to submit it.
“It is impossible to automate the process and it would involve additional and disproportionate manual work for establishments and a considerable increase in errors.”
The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT) represents more than 16,000 companies and1,800,000 places of accommodation in Spain.
CEHAT added: “The hotel sector, which has always collaborated with the State Security Forces and Corps, was surprised to find that it had to provide unofficial data that does not appear in any of the documents carried by travellers (ID and passport) such as payment method, credit card numbers, mobile phone number, actual address, etc.
“As CEHAT has been pointing out for months, this makes it impossible to send them automatically, requiring their registration and sending manually and the consequent increase in errors and disproportionate work for those who must send them.
“In light of this situation, all sector associations have agreed for the first time on the problems that will be caused by legislation that they describe as very deficient and impossible to apply.
“The collection and storage of data, as it is planned, does not respect the principles of proportionality and minimisation, which could lead to sanctions, legal actions and greater legal uncertainty for the obliged subjects.
“Furthermore, the Royal Decree implies a significant interference in the privacy rights of tourists and users without offering clear safeguards, limiting the mass collection of data to specific and justified cases.
“The obligations imposed by the Royal Decree place Spanish companies, or those operating in Spain, present a clear disadvantage compared to competitors in other EU countries that do not have similar regulations.
“European companies and organisations, such as travel agencies, marketing platforms, congress organisers, hotels, tourist apartments and tour operators, among others, have already expressed their doubts about compliance with this regulation to the European bodies, justifying their request on several grounds, including the difficulties it entails for sending travellers to Spain.”
This comes as anti-tourism protests become increasingly common across Spain.
One of the key grievances for Spaniards in many holiday hotspots is how tourism is causing the price of rental properties to soar.