Registering details as an Airbnb guest in Madrid

[Carole695]

Hi all

I can see from old posts that people have asked a few years ago about having to complete a form to register as a tourist in Spain.
I & some friends are due to travel from the UK to stay in an Airbnb apartment in Madrid soon and I’ve had an email from our host telling me about a “tourist legal registration form”. They say it is a mandatory regulation for all the guests staying at the property and I am able to fill out the form via the app parter es.
We are all a little uncomfortable with this as it asks for quite detailed information about your passport and signature plus address etc. A passport is a powerful document in the wrong hands and so we wondered if this action is still valid as the last posts I can find about this are over 3 years ago and I can’t find anything online about there being a requirement to complete this form.

Any advice much appreciated and any links to the Spanish site that shows this is still a legal requirement would be really helpful. 

Thanks so much 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Carole695 yes it is a valid Spanish requirement.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Not just Spain but the whole EU

[Paula]

Hello @Carole695,

It's possible that some countries, such as Spain, have specific requirements for tourist legal registration forms. To be certain about this, it would be a great idea to ask fellow hosts in the area. Joining a Local Host Club could be helpful. Here is the link for you to explore.

Paula

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

Many countries in Europe require this information and yes it's a legal requirement. @Carole695 

[Helen427]

@Carole695 

You have the lawful right to present documents in person in paper format if you so choose.

Not everything needs to be done online and I can appreciate entirely your concerns with sending information through the internet as none of us know who exactly is accessing such personal information at any given time and not all countries have Privacy or Data Protection Laws like our own,

Ask your Host if you can show your ID's in person as you do have that Option.

Data Minimization is more important than ever in today's day and Age.

You may like to ask your Host how long they propose to retain any of your Personal Documents and also what steps they will be taking to ensure 'Erasure of Documents' as per Legal obligations, obviously Data Erasure via the Internet is a much more complex matter - You may like to locate the recent Decision involving Airbnb and Data Erasure obligations - it does involve a Deactivation of an account alas is very informative.

We all must be mindful that everyone's situations are unique with Technology and Business practices and not all those who Host are operating a 'Business'.

Take care and have a great relaxing holiday.

[Carole695]

Hi Helen

Thank you for the advice and to all those who have replied. It’s much appreciated. 

Kind regards

Carole

[Shani138]

Hi Carole, 

This regulation is still in place. Hosts in Spain are required by law to collect and transmit this information to the local authorities. 

More information can be found here

Cheers, 

Shani

[Manish91]

What about Minor kids? My host is asking for all this information even for my 7 year old

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Manish91 The new 2023 law does not seem to care about the age of the guest. I do wonder why you care?

[Manish91]

I care because my host in Madrid is asking for passport upload of our 2 minor kids as well.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Manish91 But it is required by law. Even if it wasn't required by law is it really so bad to provide these details?

[Manish91]

Requiring this information by random hosts who could be running scams is not a smart thing.nktjing is bad till someone misuses your information. US  passports especially are used in fraud and dark web even a picture of US Passport page goes for $600. So yeah, you may not be aware of crimes, but I like to be aware and careful with what information share and with who. Also, I don't think sharing information of minor kids should be the law

[Hello6]

@Manish91, as a host in Spain we hear and understand your concerns. 

For our hostel, we currently conduct check-in in person and do not offer guests the option to use a 3rd party app. 

Spain requires a significant amount of information from each guest to be filled out.  The majority of this information hosts would not be able to verify themselves.  Hosts must provide this information to the relevant authorities in their area according to National, State and Local Laws. 

Relevant local authorities can choose to follow up on any information. 

We choose only to accept the information in person at check-in to prevent any possible fraud and to ensure we collect the relevant information correctly to avoid fines and imprisonment. 

As an additional security, we require guests to agree to having their photo taken at check-in as we are not allowed to collect photographs of their actual identity documents that they use to fill in the forms. 

All guests, including minors, must have the information Spain requires recorded and submitted to authorities by their host. 

Hosts, private & business hosts, must also ensure this information is correct according to the information a business or private host must collect. 

Hosts have to submit this information to the authorities, in their name, that guests provide.

This is why hosts will inspect guests identification that they use against the information they complete on the form. 

The government of Spain has not currently endorsed any of these 3rd party apps as far as we know that offer an online check-in option. 

Spain places the burden of collection on hosts.  If a host chooses to use a 3rd party app they face the same punishment or fines if the information is inaccurate or collected inaccurate by the app.  Ie. A guest lies about their identity and people they are traveling with.

We do face to face check-in to prevent these issues.  It costs a lot of time, energy and money for hosts to have to do check-ins in person.  We would welcome a simple digital method that is endorsed by Spain.  Face to face hosting is probably the second largest hosting costs after taxes and bills. 

The fines are sufficiently large enough to take the time to do a correct check-in and we currently opt for face to face only to ensure no fraud occurs.   

We would not permit anyone to stay if the information is not provided. 

We would report any guests traveling with minors who do not want or can not provide the required documents for check-in and we would not permit them to stay under their reservation. 

The current governments in Spain are pushing to require a "host" for all listings to be an official point of contact who has met with guests and collect the information required including minors.

Our guests are provided paper to fill in and sign with the current information Spain requires all hosts to collect and forward to authorities in Spain under the law of their guests. 

Guests the age of 14 and over must complete the information themselves and sign the document in their own name. 

Spain is very serious about recording the information of any minors in their country including their own for their safety.  The fines the "host" and responsible guardians of minors can face for not recording this information correctly and / or providing it in a timely fashion to authorities is quite high and may include jail time. 

Yes, the information of minors traveling and for hosts to view and confirm the details of their travel documents is part of this procedure as hosts are required to submit this information to authorities. 

Good luck.  You can ask to show and complete check-in with the host directly.  Just understand that hosts can choose to cancel your booking if they can not meet your requirements as Spain does not dictate which method must be used, paper or digital only that it must be collected and sent to the relevant authorities in the area a host operates. 

We also provide a digital picture copy of the forms guests signed at check-in to their inbox for their records. 

Good luck. 

NB: we are very happy Spain has finally codified what hosts can and can not collect.  Further, that they have finally made it easier for hosts to send this information to them and at no extra financial costs (time costs a lot of money however). 

And, that hosts can now contact authorities and be supported when removing bad guests. 

It used to be the wild west!