This Monday the new traveler registry comes into force: who it affects, what data will be mandatory and fines

This Monday, December 2, the new traveler registry comes into effect. The regulation obliges hoteliers, owners of tourist homes, travel agencies and vehicle rental companies to collect up to 28 pieces of data from their clients. Unofficial personal data such as address, telephone number or mobile phone stand out as new; and others related to the transactions, such as the identification of the payment method, the IBAN of the bank account or the expiration date of the card.

These data must be uploaded to a platform—called SES.LODGINGS— which Interior has launched and must be kept for three years. Those who report incorrect or late data face penalties of up to 30,000 euros.

Here we tell you the details:

Who does it affect?

According to the publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the obligation of documentary registration falls on natural or legal persons who carry out, professionally or not, lodging activities or rental of driverless motor vehicles. These include hotels, hostels, pensions, guest houses, rural tourism or similar establishments, campsites and motorhome parking areas.

For its part, driverless motor vehicle rental activities are those carried out in order to facilitate their use by a third party, for a specific time, and in exchange for compensation, consideration or a certain price. The rental of self-taxis vehicles and, in general, the rental of vehicles with a driver are excluded from the provisions of this section.

What data will be mandatory

Regarding data collection, Interior has recalled that companies will not collect more than what they are already doing currently. In particular, several categories are distinguished for registration. On the one hand, hosting activities must communicate and record the following information:

— Data of the leasing company: Name or company name of the owner, CIF or NIF, municipality, province, landline and/or mobile phone, email address, company website and URL to identify the advertisement.

— Establishment data: Type of establishment, name, full address, postal code, town and province.

— Traveler data: Full name, sex, identity document number, type of document (DNI, passport, TIE), nationality, date of birth, place of habitual residence (full address, town and country), landline and mobile phone, email, number of travelers and relationship between the travelers (in the event that one is a minor).

— Transaction data: Contract (reference number, date and signatures), contract execution data (date and time of entry and date and time of exit) and payment data (type, identification of the payment method as type card and number, holder of the payment method, card expiration date and payment date).

— In addition, for non-professional accommodation some information varies, including the full name, sex and ID of the owner of the property, as well as the number of rooms or the establishment’s internet connection.

— In the case of vehicle rental, the data to be provided is similar to that of accommodation, although adding the corresponding information of the main driver and the second driver (if applicable).

Sanctions from 100 euros to 30,000 euros

Finally, although the Ministry wanted to make it clear that this regulation does not have “a collection purpose to fill the State’s coffers”, minor and serious sanctions will be imposed on companies that fail to comply with the regulations.

Specifically, irregularities or deficiencies in the completion of the records provided for in this royal decree and the completion of mandatory communications outside the established deadline are considered minor infractions. The price of the fine ranges between 100 and 600 euros.

For their part, serious sanctions include the lack of documentary records provided for in this royal decree and the omission of mandatory communications. The price of the violation will range from 601 to 30,000 euros.

Criticism of the sector

This new measure has been the subject of constant criticism from the accommodation sector and travel agencies, who believe that it represents an increase in bureaucratic burden that could lead to a loss of competitiveness and the possible violation of travelers’ privacy. However, the Ministry of the Interior assures that throughout the process of preparation and approval of the decree it has respected the principle of transparency and efficiency, having had the participation of the recipients and the objectives of the regulation being clearly defined both in the preamble of the standard as in the report, without “unnecessary or accessory administrative burdens having been included.”

Interior defends that it increases security

The department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska has placed emphasis on the current security situation, stating that the greatest attacks on citizens are carried out by both terrorist activity and organized crime, in both cases with a marked transnational character. . “In both cases, the logistics of accommodation and the acquisition or use of motor vehicles take on special relevance in the modus operandi of criminals, the contracting of which is carried out today through countless means, including telematics, which provides greater privacy in those transactions,” he explained in this regard.

Therefore, for the Interior, the current regulations are “obsolete” and “useless” because, for example, the accommodation registration rule is 65 years old (Decree 1513/1959). This fact means leaving out of its scope of application the new types of lodging activities, such as short-term tourist homes operated by companies or individuals through registration in portals or reservation centers through digital media or the Internet.

In this sense, this total of almost 4.8 million data has made it possible to locate 18,584 people who appeared in national or international flag databases, being in line with the main purpose of the decree, which is to improve citizen security, according to Inside.