Is it guest registration mandatory? What data do I have to provide to the authorities? Is there a way to automate the sending of guests’ reports to the authorities? and is it legal to make guest registration 100% online?
These questions are more and more frequently asked by owners or managers of tourist accommodations.
Therefore, in today’s blog we leave you with the most frequently asked questions regarding the legal obligations that owners or managers of tourist accommodation must comply with.
Everything about the main legal requirements, sending data to the authorities and automating legal processes.
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
Is it compulsory to register guests?
Yes, according to the Organic Law on the Protection of Public Safety of 30 March 2015 it is mandatory to register all travellers over 14 years of age.
This process is carried out by filling in a guest registration form, which must conform to the model set out in the Annex to Order INT/1922/2003.
In addition, the data collected must be reported to the authorities within 24 hours after guests check-in. This applies to all types of tourist accommodation: holiday rentals, hotels, hostels, rural houses, campsites, villas, etc.
Find out all about the legal registration of guests in Spain and others here.
What legal obligations must I take into account when managing my tourist accommodation?
If you are the owner of a tourist accommodation in Spain, you must take into account the following legal obligations:
- To keep a guest book.
- To fill in the registration forms by manual or automatic procedures.
- Report to the authorities within 24 hours.
- Collect the signature (inexcusably) on guest registration forms for guests over 16 years of age.
- Collect all guest reports in a sequential order in books or notebooks of between 100-500 sheets of paper.
- Keep the guest books accessible for the members of the Security Forces.
- Store the guest books for a period of three years.
Take a look at all this important terms to know when renting a holiday accommodation in Spain.
SENDING DATA TO THE AUTHORITIES
Who do I have to send the guest data to?
This will depend on the security forces nearest to your business and in charge of regulating your area. For example, in Spain this could be the National Police, the Guardia Civil, the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia) or the Ertzaintza (Basque Country).
To be more precise, if the accommodation is located in a zone where it is not possible to register with the National Police station, then the guest registration must be made in accordance with the request of the Guardia Civil. Except in Catalonia and the Basque Country, where the submission must be made to the Hotel Registration application of the Ertzaintza or the registration application of accommodation establishments of the Mossos d’Esquadra, respectively.
Get here more information about the legal requirements for guest registration in Italy, California, France, Chicago, Florida and also the full european legislation.
What information do I have to provide to the authorities?
Tourist accommodation’s owners or managers must identify themselves by providing the following original and photocopy documents:
- Identity card of the person who is going to carry out the procedure or, if applicable, an authorisation of representation.
- Declaration of responsibility for the activity (submitted to Tourism).
- The deeds, simple notes or, if applicable, the property management contract.
If everything is correct, once you have provided these documents, the authorities will provide you with a user name and password.
How does Chekin send the data to the authorities? How does this synchronization work?
Once you have an assigned username and password by the authorities, everything is very simple.
For the synchronisation, you only need to enter these data (username and password provided above) to synchronise with the web portal of the relevant authority and automate the legal compliance process.
AUTOMATION OF LEGAL PROCESSES
Is there a way to automate the submission of guest’ reports to the authorities?
With Chekin you can quickly register your guests wherever you are through a simple online check-in.
Your guests will fill in their data in an online form, then digitally sign the compliance and once the check-in process is completed, the data will be automatically sent to the authorities.
In addition,guests’ reports will be stored in the cloud and sent to you by mail in case you need them. Easy, secure and legally compliant.
Is it legal to make guest registration 100% online?
Yes, guests’ registration forms can be completed by both manual and online procedures. However, regardless of whether the process is carried out manually or automatically, guest must sign the report in an inexcusable manner.
Is the electronic signature legal for guests’ reports?
According to Law 59/2003 on electronic signatures, Article 3.7 et seq. specifies that the electronically signed documents referred to in the article (including private documents) will have the legal value and effectiveness that corresponds to their nature.
Furthermore, the European Regulation 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the EU (eIDAS Regulation) specifies that “an electronic signature shall not be denied legal effect as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is an electronic signature by that means or because it does not meet the requirements of a qualified electronic signature” (i.e. with an electronic certificate).
What does this mean? It means that the electronic signature will be fully equivalent to a handwritten signature and will have the same legal effect.
How does Chekin obtain guest information required by the authorities?
Chekin obtains the information by reading identity documents, thanks to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology. This is a text scanning method that only extracts the data that is strictly necessary.
How does Chekin process this data?
Through the application, the extracted information is directly entered into the guests’ reports. Under no circumstances are photographs taken or copies of identity documents kept, as this would be illegal.
Are the guests’ reports and guest books automatically generated by Chekin accepted by law?
Of course they are. The guests’ registration forms generated by Chekin and automatically sent to the authorities conform to the standard models established by the Spanish Government. They are all duly signed and stored telematically in log books of 500 pages maximum each. Other questions about Chekin and legal compliance can be found in the following link.
