Travel agencies associations, including the European association; Spain's hoteliers; Spain's Congress and Senate. Among some to have expressed fierce criticism of or to have voted against the introduction of the decree that obliges accommodation providers, travel agencies and car-hire firms to provide Spain's interior ministry with traveller data that has been attacked for being excessively bureaucratic, an invasion of privacy, a threat to Spain's competitiveness and a cybersecurity risk.
The decree comes into force on Monday, December 2, the ministry insisting that it has respected principles of transparency and efficiency. "Unnecessary or accessory administrative burdens have not been included." In bringing this decree, the minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has stressed the security situation. Current regulations are said to be "obsolete and useless". Where registrations for lodging are concerned, these date back to 1959. The new regulations, he argues, are necessary to combat terrorist activity and organised crime "of a transnational nature".
For its part, the European association of travel agencies and tour operators states that the regulations are "unprecedented" in the European Union. Accepting that travellers to Spain could be the most protected citizens anywhere in the world, the association is nevertheless scathing in its criticism of the amount of data these citizens will have to provide.
The CEHAT national confederation of hotel associations utterly rejects Grande-Marlaska's assertion that there has been transparency. Repeated requests for dialogue from various sources have received no response from the Spanish Government. CEHAT states that the only meeting held with the ministry was on October 4. Since then, there has been nothing. Grande-Marlaska said a few days ago that there will be a public hearing, a process lasting a couple of weeks with the aim of establishing a clear framework so that companies can manage the required data efficiently.
The confederation continues to consider legal action against the government, its general secretary, Ramón Estalella, pointing out that votes in Congress and the Senate have heaped further pressure on the government. "The government may not be obliged to, but it should listen to the chambers and their representatives, the source of popular sovereignty."
The opposition Partido Popular have adopted the 'big brother' charge. One PP senator, Agustín Almodóbar, held up a poster during the Senate debate with the words (in English): 'Big Brother is watching you'. This included a photo of Prime Minister Sánchez.
The politics aside, the tourism industry has expressed its deep concerns with regulations that could result in fines to service providers of anything from 100 to 30,000 euros for non-compliance. CEHAT argues that there could be chaos as it will be impossible to certify some of the data-collection requirements. The confederation maintains that at least 70% of accommodation providers are small or medium-sized concerns that lack adequate systems security to ensure data protection.
The data requirements aren't the same in all cases, but the following list gives an idea:
Company details:
- Name or company name of the owner
- ID number
- Municipality
- Province
- Landline and/or mobile phone
- Email address
- Company website
- URL to identify an advertisement
Property details:
- Type of establishment
- Name
- Complete address
- Postcode
- Town and province
Traveller data:
- Name
- First surname
- Second surname (for Spanish citizens typically)
- Gender
- ID number
- Type of ID document (DNI, passport, TIE)
- Nationality
- Date of birth
- Place of habitual residence (full address and country)
- Landline telephone
- Mobile phone
- Email
- Number of passengers
- Relationship of kinship (in the event that one is a minor)
Transaction data:
- Contract: reference number, date and signature
- Date and time of arrival and date and time of departure
- Property: full address, number of rooms and internet connection (yes or no)
- Payment: type (cash, credit card, transfer, etc.). Identification of the payment method (type of card and number, bank account IBAN, mobile payment, others). Holder of the payment method, expiry date of the card and date of payment.
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Most of the important data (name, d.o.b., sex) is on the passport anyway. Simple, on a lot of these booking sites I just enter my phone number as 0123 456 7890, tick no phone contact, and I have a non-personal email for all my online shopping, bookings etc. Likewise my address is none of their business, so No. 10, Mainstreet, Newcastle or similar. The big problem is giving the Government my IBAN and card number, so just get a pre-paid credit card for these bills. I can't imagine giving a commercial operation incomplete or false data is a 'crime.