Travel agents and tour operators in source markets selling packages to Spain are not required to supply data on holidaymakers, officials have confirmed.
This applies to both small agencies and large tour operators, from one-person agencies to the largest operators in the industry, according to the Spanish Tourist Office in the UK.
However, the receptive agency or intermediary in Spain working with these source-market operators would be obligated to register the data, where applicable.
Digital platforms such as Booking.com, Airbnb, lastminute.com or Expedia also have to comply, provided they have an office or establishment in Spain, “regardless of whether the transaction originates in another country”.
The royal decree is designed to combat terrorism and organised crime and will see the creation of a modernised platform to record customer data much like a traditional logbook, according to the Spanish Tourist Office.
The data required includes passport details, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, family relationships and some payment details for every traveller aged 14 and over.
A future ministerial order, currently under public consultation, “will establish the procedure for incorporating any additional information required”.
The Spanish Tourist Office provided clarification on the updated law that requires hotels and car rental companies to gather customer data in line with the European Union’s general data protection regulation amid growing industry concern over the new rule.
The updated decree will require relevant companies to record a set of traveller data on a web platform provided by the Ministry of the Interior, “thus modernising the process of a traditional logbook”.
Under the new system, the ministry has created a web platform where relevant companies will be required to register data that they are already collecting from customers as part of their day-to-day operations.
“The new system represents a modernisation of the mechanism previously in place, which was based on logbooks that hotels or vehicle rental companies had to maintain in paper format,” the tourist office said.
“The new method simplifies and streamlines this process, leveraging the capabilities of modern electronic communication systems and ultimately enhancing the efficiency of the state security forces in their preventative and protective duties.”
A spokesperson added: “The Spanish Tourist Office (UK), in its efforts to ensure clarity, emphasises that the establishment of a registry for lodging and motor vehicle rentals is not a new initiative.
“In fact, a registry for hotel stays has been in place since August 1959, while regulations governing motor vehicle rental activities date back to 1974.
“These royal decrees and ministerial orders, therefore, required an update to address data collection and incorporate the registering of accommodation types not included in the previous system, while also simultaneously taking advantage of developments in technology and the digitalisation of the modern era. The new system only collects two more data fields than the previous system.”