Chaos erupts as Spain’s new traveller registration platform crashed on its first day. The controversial platform, which has been met with fierce resistance from the tourism industry, has failed to function properly, leaving businesses in a state of uncertainty. The platform’s demands for excessive personal and financial information have been criticised as a major overreach.
After a year of planning, the Ministry of the Interior launched the new platform for registering travellers on Monday, December 2, despite opposition from the tourism industry, which deemed the information requested to be disproportionate. However, the platform crashed preventing its use for most of the day, as denounced by Hosbec and Aptur.
In Alicante, the president of the hotel association, Fede Fuster, criticized the Ministry of the Interior for launching the portal despite privacy concerns. “The Ministry has given us a serious problem. We have been protesting its introduction for months, and now we face a platform that doesn’t work. Very few establishments can upload data, and the previous system that provided security is now down. A police officer could enter our hotels at any time and fine us for not being able to produce the required information,” said Fuster.
“We are asking the Government to provisionally suspend this decree, which is harmful and makes no sense. It does not provide a better legal framework and seeks sensitive economic and family information that is not necessary,” he added.
Aptur, the association of tourist apartments in the Valencian Community, also criticized the platform, sharing a screenshot of the downed page with the media.
Previously, establishments were required to register users and send identity information. The new decree now includes tourist apartments and other sector companies, such as car rental agencies, to provide both personal trip data and payment conditions.
