Disproportionate and impossible to respect. This is how the entire Spanish tourism sector has evaluated Royal Decree 933, which will finally come into force this Monday.
Another example of this way of doing things. Governmentof their disastrous way of legislating, of this way of impose a series of standards turning our backs and without counting on those who must apply them, in this case our very important Spanish tourism sector.
And also, a palpable example of the enormous lack of knowledge that exists on the part of the Presiding Executive Pedro Sanchez on the reality and tourist operations, on the lack of weight and leadership in the defense of tourism The Spaniard on the table of the Council of Ministers of the tourism sector by Minister Hereu, still in profile, on this occasion before the decisions of Minister Marlaska.
tourism sector, the People’s Party Through the initiatives approved in the Senate and Congress, the media, European employers’ associations, we have all been asking the government for weeks to suspend its entry into force until a consensual, viable and proportional solution is achievable. We have warned the Executive that in addition to incompatibility to European Union regulations regarding protection of datathis decision also generates great legal uncertainty for our businessmen in the most important sector of the Spanish economy.
No one can understand why the government wants, through this regulation, to collect so much information from the people who do it. tourism for Spain, nationals and foreigners.
As established by the regulations of the Travelers’ Register included in this royal decree, all these companies will be obliged to collect by imposition of Minister Marlaska, by imposition of Pedro Sánchez, sensitive data which go well beyond those that collect official customer documents, such as identity documents or passports. Now, they also want to know the method of payment, credit card numbers, landline and mobile phone numbers or even who the reservation holder is and what relationship they have with the person accompanying them.
Yes, from this Monday, establishments dedicated to accommodation, travel agencies or car rental companies will be required to transmit to the Government an exhaustive list of 42 personal data, of which 28 concern the confidentiality customers, and otherwise, these service providers are exposed to fines who could reach €30,000.
Controlling absolutely everything, not only institutions and organizations as they have done so far, but also people, these are the assertions of a government in which everything smacks of corruption, which has been ignoring the demands of the Spanish tourism. and the consequences of which could be terrible for many of our companies, which will have to face regulations for which they do not have the means, neither technical nor personal, to comply. To this must be added the shortcomings that the technological platform developed for this purpose by the Ministry of the Interior continues to present.
Spain is the only country in European Union in which hotels send their customers’ identity documents to the authorities, citizens are aware that we must give up part of our privacy to guarantee a minimum threshold of security, but we also have the right not to have the possibility to review our life and use our information, we do not really know for what purpose.
And it is difficult for me to understand that the government of a country which receives more than 85 million of touristsbe aware that the wording of Royal Decree 933/2021 manifests a profound misunderstanding of how reservations and tourist arrivals and movements in Spain are generated, since they require specific data that the client does not provide. are not obliged to do so in any European regulation or in any member country and which far exceed the needs to guarantee the security of citizens.
And that on top of the brutality administrative burden What this implies will also endanger the competitiveness of Spain, something that has already been taken up by different media abroad since in no other country is the communication of a disproportionate amount of data requested and this places us at a clear competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors.
What the tourism sector has done all these weeks, by expressing its opposition to this royal decree, is not choosing to defend citizens, anyone traveling for whatever reason, against this intended invasion of privacy. by the government.
I’ve always said that in politics, we sometimes overcomplicate things and make things difficult for those who expect success from us. I was always taught to listen, to listen to those who know, in this case real architects. of Spain’s tourist success, our businessmen, workers and destinations which, despite this lack of listening and permanent attention from the Government, will continue to give us example and joy.
As simple as that, listen to those who know best the daily reality in a hotel reception, a small local travel agency or a car rental agency, those who encounter daily difficulties, those who know the customer who visits us, something so simple and so little happens to some in the precious activity to which I dedicate myself, with the sole objective of achieving what should be its main representative, trying to improve the lives of those who visit us.
Of course you can, but with this government, no.
Agustín Almodóbar Barceló East senator from Alicante and spokesperson for Tourism of the PP in the Upper House, as well as National Secretary of Tourism of the PP
