The new data collection rules became law last week and have been compared to ‘Big Brother’. The rules require hotels, travel agencies and car rental companies to harvest more than 40 pieces of personal information from each visitor
A new law that came into force on Monday December 2 has had Spanish hotel bosses up in arms, fearing Brits will no longer want to visit the country including the holiday hotspot of the Canary Islands.
The new data collection rules became law last week and have been compared to ‘Big Brother’. The rules require hotels, travel agencies and car rental companies to harvest more than 40 pieces of personal information from each visitor in Spain.
Everyone over the age of 14 will have to provide hotels, rentals, taxis, and campsites the massive list of info including passport details, mobile numbers, dates of birth, nationalities, email addresses and more.
Spanish hoteliers have said they will take the government to court to challenge the new laws and “protect businesses and travellers.” The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT) has said the new laws risk putting off guests and creating a burden for staff with lengthy check-ins with businesses risking large fines if they fail to comply.
The organisation also claimed that the new rules would violate European data protection directives and create unacceptable legal uncertainty” for a sector that contributes 12% of Spain’s GDP, CEHAT told the Canarian newspaper.
“Spain cannot allow such a damaging regulation to come into force without addressing its many flaws. We will continue fighting to ensure the sector and travellers receive the respect and protection they deserve,” Jorge Marichal, CEHAT’s president, said.
Before the new laws came into force tourists in Spain just had to show their their ID cards or passports while renting a car in the country required driving license details and GPS data.
The massive amounts of data now required make some bookings completely impractical, Pedro Fiol, the president of the Aviba Association of Travel Agencies in the Balearic Islands told the Majorca Daily Bulletin .
“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 secretary-general of CEHAT Ramón Eestella said: “It’s like ‘Big Brother’ – it’s nuts and will cause chaos,” The Metro reports .
