The centre right Partido Popular on the Council of Mallorca has called for the immediate repeal of the decree that obliges accommodation and car rental companies to comply with documentary registration and information requirements which, according to the PP, are “unacceptable”. According to the party, this regulation “generates serious operational and economic problems for small and medium-sized tourism companies” and, furthermore, “violates the privacy of travellers by requiring the collection of up to 30 pieces of information per accommodation booking and up to 60 in the case of car hire”.
The PP spokeswoman for the Council of Mallorca, Núria Riera, said that this new regulation “does not take into account the reality of the sector”and “forces businesses to face an excessive administrative and technological burden, which could have a direct impact on the competitiveness of Mallorcan tourism”. Riera also stressed that the decree has been “imposed without dialogue” and without sufficient consultation with the businesses affected.
In addition, the spokeswoman has denounced the “lack of technical preparation” for the implementation of the decree, which, according to her, has led to a “real operational chaos”. A situation,they claim, aggravated by the “inaction” of the central government, which “has not responded to the requests of the different associations in the sector nor has it opened effective channels of communication with those affected”.
This, according to Riera, “especially harms those smaller companies, which have fewer resources to assume new costs and legal requirements”. The regulation aims to reinforce public security and prevent crime, but it has generated a wide debate due to the strong impact it has on the privacy of users and the management costs for businessmen. In Riera’s opinion, this regulation, “approved without any consensus with the business community”, is “disproportionate” and needs to be repealed immediately.
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Olaf BachmannI think you may be confusing this with ETIAS, which, when finally in operation and the dust has cleared, will be a good thing, much like others implemented long ago, and won't be anywhere near the burden it has been claimed to be. This programme, however, unique to Spain, is a far overreaching, unnecessary burden on the entire tourism industry, unilaterally imposed on it without any consultation, and its very legality is in serious question. And there's little evidence that collection of this far reaching personal data will enhance any measurable security over the data collection that already exists, and may well provide a valuable source of data for dubious intents. This was implemented in a vacuum, and deserves scrutiny. And I expect if that comes to pass, it will be seriously scaled back or eliminated entirely.
This is actually a very good law. It's a serious tool to fight both illegal holiday rentals and tax evasion. It is going to be introduced all over Europe. Spain is only the first country to implement this Europe wide agreed regulation. Other states feel need to more actively address the problems as well. It was about time.