Spain demands tourist personal data: Hotels forced to collect private info
Spanish tourism businesses must gather extensive personal data from visitors starting next week. New rules require hotels and rental services to collect 31 different data points about their guests
Starting next monday Spain introduces super-strict tourist data-collection rules that make local businesses gather way more info than any other EU country
The new-fangled system needs hotels tour operators and car-rental firms to collect thirty-one different pieces of data (including bank details family connections and home addresses) from their customers
Tourism industry leader Ramón Estalella from Spanish hotel group Cehat doesnt like these changes:
Its like Big Brother – its nuts and will cause chaos
Right now Spanish hotels only need basic ID info but the new rules make them get much more personal stuff; which could slow-down check-ins and create long queues at busy times
The interior ministry says its all about catching bad guys but Cehat started legal action because:
- Rules dont match EU data protection laws
- Fines are super-high for not following them
- Some demands are just weird like car rental places need to know car plates before rentals happen
- It might make tourists feel un-comfortable
Fernando Grande-Marlaska the interior guy says the rules are fair – mixing privacy and safety needs but tourism folks (who bring in 12% of Spains money) had just one meeting to talk about their worries in past 3 years
