If you manage a tourist accommodation in Spain (a vacation rental, a hostel, an apartment, or a small hotel), traveler registration is probably the legal obligation that raises the most questions and the easiest one to breach without realizing it.
In this guide I explain, in plain language, what traveler registration is, what the law says, who is required to comply, what data you must report, and how the guest report is submitted to SES.Hospedajes. And, above all, how to stop this from eating up hours every week.
What traveler registration is
Traveler registration is the legal obligation of tourist accommodations (and other obligated parties) to identify the people who stay with them and report certain data to the competent authorities (the National Police or the Civil Guard, depending on the area).
It is not a new procedure: Spain has required the “traveler entry report” for decades. What has changed is how it is done and how much information is requested. Today everything is channeled electronically through SES.Hospedajes, the Ministry of the Interior’s digital platform.
The legal framework: Royal Decree 933/2021
The reference rule is Royal Decree 933/2021, which establishes the documentary registration and information obligations of natural or legal persons engaged in lodging and motor vehicle rental activities.
This Royal Decree develops the provisions of the Public Safety Act and replaces the previous regime. Its key points are:
- It expands the catalog of data to be collected compared to the old system.
- It requires submitting the information electronically through the enabled platform (SES.Hospedajes).
- It establishes a retention period for the records.
- It expressly includes digital intermediation platforms and vehicle rental.
Who must register travelers
The obligation reaches a broader range than many people think. In general terms, the following must comply:
- Traditional accommodation establishments: hotels, hostels, guesthouses, rural houses, hostels, and campsites.
- Tourist-use dwellings and vacation rentals: tourist apartments and VUTs, including small owners renting out a single property.
- Platforms and intermediation channels: the digital intermediaries that connect the traveler with the accommodation.
- Motor vehicle rental companies.
If you manage tourist accommodation, the obligation is yours even if you use Airbnb, Booking.com, or another channel: the duty to submit the report falls on whoever provides the lodging service.
What data you must collect and report
The regulation broadly distinguishes between two blocks of information:
1. Traveler data (identity)
Information that identifies each adult guest: full name, ID document or passport, date of birth, nationality, and contact details, among other fields defined in the rule.
2. Transaction data
Information about the stay and the operation: check-in and check-out dates, booking details, and payment-related data, as provided for in the Royal Decree.
What SES.Hospedajes is and how the report is submitted
SES.Hospedajes is the Ministry of the Interior’s platform where accommodations submit the guest report. It replaces the old Civil Guard and National Police reporting system, unifying it into a single digital entry point.
The flow, simplified, is this:
- Register the establishment in SES.Hospedajes (you’ll need to identify yourself and register your lodging activity).
- Collect the guest’s data at check-in (or before, if you do it online).
- Submit the report to the platform within the legally established timeframe.
- Retain the records for the period the regulation requires.
Deadlines and data retention
The regulation sets a deadline to submit the report after the booking is formalized or the traveler checks in, and a period during which you must retain the registered information.
Since these deadlines are exactly the kind of data worth checking at the source, we don’t fix them here: check the submission deadline and retention period in force in SES.Hospedajes before organizing your internal process. What matters operationally is that the submission is not optional or “whenever you have time”: it has a window, and it’s best to automate it so you don’t rely on your memory.
Penalties for non-compliance
Failure to meet the registration and reporting obligations can result in administrative penalties under the framework of the Public Safety Act. Infractions can be classified in different degrees and the fines can be significant.
Differences by autonomous region
Watch out for a nuance that confuses many people: the Ministry of the Interior’s traveler registration (public safety, via SES.Hospedajes) coexists with the tourism obligations of each autonomous region.
That is, in addition to submitting the report to SES.Hospedajes, depending on where your accommodation is located you may also need to be registered in a regional tourism registry, display a license number, and meet specific requirements. These are different layers that do not replace one another.
How to automate traveler registration with Regi
This is where I want to be genuinely useful. Traveler registration is repetitive, error-prone, and deadline-bound: exactly the kind of task software should take off your plate.
With Regi the process becomes simple:
- The guest completes their data in an online check-in (no more copying it by hand).
- The data is validated and automatically submitted to SES.Hospedajes in the correct format.
- If a booking is cancelled or there’s an error, you can cancel the report from within the app, without logging into SES.Hospedajes.
- We keep the field template up to date so you don’t have to watch every regulatory change.
Frequently asked questions about traveler registration
Do I have to register all guests or just the person who made the booking?
The obligation is to identify the travelers who stay, not just whoever made the booking. Check the regulation for the treatment of minors and the specific criteria for your type of accommodation.
Is traveler registration the same as the informative model for rentals?
No. They are different obligations. Traveler registration (SES.Hospedajes) is a public-safety matter and is done for each stay. The informative model is another obligation, periodic in nature and tied to the NRUA. We explain it in the definitive guide to the informative model.
If I rent through Airbnb or Booking, does the platform do it for me?
Don’t assume so. Although platforms have their own information obligations, the duty to submit the guest report falls on whoever provides the lodging. Make sure the submission to SES.Hospedajes is actually being made.
What happens if I make a mistake when submitting a report?
You can correct or cancel the submission. With Regi you can cancel reports directly from the app, without logging into SES.Hospedajes.
How long must I keep the data?
The regulation sets a retention period. Since it may be updated, verify the period in force through the official channels and make sure you store the records securely for that time.
Do I need a digital certificate?
To operate with the platform you’ll need a valid identification method. Review the up-to-date access requirements in SES.Hospedajes.
Start submitting your reports without the hassle
Traveler registration doesn’t have to take hours or cost you sleep. The key is to register correctly, submit on time, and retain the data, and let technology handle the repetitive part.
Stay up to date with the regulation
Related resources
- Cancel your guest reports easily
- Property verification in Regi
- Definitive guide to the informative model for rentals
- New obligation: the annual informative model
This guide is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Always verify the traveler registration requirements in force through the official channels of the Ministry of the Interior and SES.Hospedajes.