All visitors in Spain will be tracked and registered
Spain has decided to track tourists by forcing them to provide personal data. In addition, the information gathering will fall in the hands of tourism operators such as hotels, campsites and rental companies.
"Big Brother" in Spanish is "Gran hermano". In any case, the Spanish authorities have decided to collect private and personal data on tourists as from October 1, 2024. A royal decree will require hotels, campsites, vacation rental companies and car rental companies to ask their customers, among other things, for their full identity, bank account number, address, telephone numbers, email and details of their identity documents, including passport or driving license, regardless of whether a tourist is staying for 1 night or several weeks.
GPS tracking
The host is also asked to keep records of arrival and departure times of individuals, the number of rooms rented and whether or not the Internet connection is used. Vehicle rental companies must keep the times and places of pick-up and return of the vehicle, the number of kilometers traveled, the model of the vehicle and the GPS data during rental. The obligation is badly received by tourism bodies and their intermediaries in Spain as well as abroad. The unions of the sector are furious. They're afraid that this will scare away visitors, while adding an administrative burden to companies. Officially, this decree was passed in 2021 to fight against terrorism, organized crime and trafficking.
In any case, here is the data that will be requested for each visitor, even children:
- First and last names
- Identity card and/or passport number
- Date of birth, gender and nationality
- Address of usual place of residence
- Landline and mobile phone numbers
- Email address
- Number of travelers and parental relationship with minors
- Bank account number and cardholder
- Full driving license data (car rental)
(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Sources: Le Soir & Equinox – Picture: © Wikipedia - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license - Jean-Pierre Dalbéra)