People on the streets in Palma, Mallorca

Fear that the system will be very damaging to tourism. | Jaume Morey

Andrew EdePalma11/12/2024 08:18
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At a Tuesday meeting in Palma, the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation and the Aviba association of travel agencies backed a call at national level to take Spain's interior ministry to court if changes are not made to the controversial traveller registration system. The tourism industry believes that the registration system, in force since December 2, will be "very damaging".

The interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced a period of consultation that is due to end on Friday (December 13). The hope expressed by the president of Aviba, Pedro Fiol, is that a ministerial order will follow and correct registration system "errors".

"If it does not, we will have no choice but to resort to legal action." Fiol insisted that this order must comply with the legitimate requests of the tourism industry, and he stressed that his association will take action if even one of its members is sanctioned.

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The ministry has argued that new regulations have been needed to update "obsolete and useless" ones that date back to 1959. Terrorism and organised crime are the ministry's concerns, but the CEHAT national confederation of hotel associations argues that "real criminals" will always find a way.

The president, Jorge Marichal, says: "Hotels are not police stations. Receptions are not border posts. And receptionists should not be interrogators trained in the secret services."

As to data that will be stored, Marichal asks: "What could go wrong with three years of stored data? Hackers in every corner of the planet will think: 'Wow, this is an all-you-can-eat buffet.' Is this the security they are promising us?"

Marichal warns that airports and receptions will be overwhelmed and that tourists "instead of remembering Spain as the country of sun, joy, gastronomy and culture, will remember it as the kingdom of the form".