Spain has decided to make summer 2024 unforgettable – but not in a good way! Starting December 2, 2023, every tourist wanting to enjoy the Spanish sun must be ready to hand over… a mountain of personal data. Yes, you read that right – a whopping 31 pieces of personal information must be submitted to hotels, Airbnb rentals, and even car rental agencies. All in the name of fighting terrorism and organized crime, say the authorities. But is this really about safety, or just turning tourists into walking databases?
Imagine this: you want to rent a car or book accommodation through popular platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com, but they can’t automatically share your data with the hotel due to privacy rules. This means you might have to fill out tons of paperwork, manually entering passport numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, gender, and much more. If you’re traveling with children over 14, their data is mandatory too, while younger kids must be registered through their parents.
Rumors about requiring bank account balances have thankfully been denied. However, payment methods – credit cards, debit cards, or bank transfers – must be reported. Fines won’t be on tourists but on accommodation providers if they fail to collect all this information.
But what about data protection? The law mandates that all this data be stored for three years, and most accommodation providers plan to hire specialized companies to manage the data. Still, the question remains – how safe is it to store and share so much personal information?
These measures aren’t made up out of thin air. They are part of a broader European regulation soon to apply across the EU, and British citizens, as third-country nationals, face even stricter rules, including proof of financial means for their stay.
So, if you planned to enjoy Spain this summer, get ready for a bureaucratic marathon and remember – no 31 data points, no vacation! What do you think about these measures? Over the top or necessary? Drop a comment, let’s see who’s for or against this new tourist drama!
