Spain’s new registration system could harm the Balearic Island’s economy, according to travel experts. 

The new rules, likened to ‘Big Brother’, came into force on December 2 and require hotels, travel agencies and car rental companies to collect up to 42 pieces of personal information per guest.

Critics warn that tour groups could pull out of the Balearics if large groups have to provide their data in advance.

Pedro Fiol, the president of the Aviba Association of Travel Agencies in the Balearic Islands is a strong critic of the new rules. 

Speaking to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, he said: ‘It is not possible to give so much data so far in advance. For example, when a company reserves a hotel to hold an event it doesn’t know exactly who will attend. How is it going to provide more than 40 pieces of information in 24 hours if it doesn’t know who will be participating? 

‘The same thing happens with sports teams. These types of reservations are made months or even years in advance, based on forecasts, but these are not confirmed names.’

Fiol added that losing these large group bookings, which tend to spend more during medium or low season, will be ‘very negative for the Balearic economy’. 

The Mallorca Hoteliers Federation said the requirements represent a ‘very high level of legal uncertainty’, with potential ‘intrusion into privacy’ and the risk of possible data leaks,  the Bulletin reports.

Hotels in Spain have always asked guests for personal documents, but the government has extended the list of data needed. Prior to the legislation, tourists only had to show their ID cards or passports. 

The new rules are expected to be the strictest in the EU and apply to everyone aged 14 or above. It includes the person’s full name, gender, nationality, passport number, date of birth, home address, mobile number and email address.

The information is then uploaded onto a platform for sharing with Spanish security forces. The new system reportedly crashed on its first day. Fiol told the Bulletin: ‘It was chaos. It hardly ever worked during the test period.’

Those under 14 will not need to provide the information, but adults travelling with them must explain the relationship they have with them.

The Spanish government has defended its decision on the new rules, claiming they intend to ‘crackdown on organised crime’. Fines for non-compliance are as high as €30,000 (£24,800).

The country’s leading hotel association, Cehat, however, has hit back against the new rules. The group’s secretary-general Ramón Eestella, said: ‘It’s like “Big Brother” – it’s nuts and will cause chaos.’

Cehat has now launched a legal challenge over the rules. While the group has said it is committed to working with the government in the interest of security, they have concerns over breaching customers’ privacy.

It said the new obligations could breach the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which could result in even higher penalties for failing to comply with the decree. 

Estelella told The Telegraph that Spain is already the only country in the EU where hotels must send guests’ ID information to the police.

‘Not only could it violate fundamental privacy rights, but it also threatens to complicate and hinder the experience of millions of visitors who choose Spain as a destination,’ Cehat said in a statement. 

The group also said it would cause considerable delays for tourists checking into hotels, especially during peak times. 

Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said in October that the new rules ‘balanced all considerations including both the right to privacy as well as the need to protect the security of society as a whole’. 

It follows a year of over-tourism protests across Spain and Europe. In October, the Spanish thousands took to the streets of Madrid to protest extortionate house prices and the impact of holiday rental sites such as Airbnb. 

Barcelona has also seen numerous demonstrations this year. In the summer, protesters armed with water pistols demanded ‘tourists go home’, while 22,000 protested in the city in November to demand lower house prices. 

Popular holiday spots, such as the Canary Islands, have repeatedly hit out against over-tourism.

This article was originally published on December 2, 2024.

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