Negative impact of Royal Decree on Spain's competitiveness 

Since the start of this year, Decree 933/2021 requires travel and tourism service providers to collect and report more client data than any other European country.

It harms competitiveness, adds friction within the value-chain and increases costs. Together with partners we have made repeated representations to the relevant Ministries with no response. Due to concerns about the Decree’s compatibility with EU data protection regulation, the European Commission has been notified. This is serious, and it is also avoidable.

The impact is felt across the intra-European ecosystem of operators, DMCs, agents and hoteliers, as well as by those selling Europe in global markets. Business ranges from large B2B and B2C operators to FIT and niche specialists in small groups business delivering tourism across the continent throughout the year. Spain remains popular, but it is harder for operators to work with due to the extensive client data collection and reporting requirements imposed by the Decree.

For the domestic supply chain in Spain, especially small businesses, the Decree poses an impossible dilemma: risk non-compliance with EU regulation and consequent fines or comply with the exceptional demands of the Royal Decree. Regulation must be necessary, rational and proportionate. On current evidence, the decree is none of these and is harming a value-adding ecosystem that secures Spain value export revenue.

"Spanish hoteliers and travel agents have been the strongest critics of this government-imposed regulation, which, over the past six months, has replaced a well-established and widely accepted framework that had been in place for more than 40 years. The previous regulation was instrumental in ensuring safety and stability for both the tourism sector and our visitors.

The newly introduced Royal Decree not only lacks precision, but in our view, also violates European regulations. While no sanctions have yet been imposed for non-compliance, the sector demands clear, enforceable rules that are exclusively focused on enhancing safety.

This regulation appears to be a reaction to the uncontrolled and disproportionate growth of tourist stays in private dwellings – an area now exceeding the combined capacity of hotels, aparthotels, campsites, rural lodgings, and guesthouses in Spain. We fully support efforts to curb illegality in the sector, but the procedures established in this Royal Decree are themselves unlawful and must be repealed. Any new framework must be developed in agreement with all legal actors within the tourism industry."

Ramón Estalella, General Secretary of CEHAT – La Confederación Española de Hoteles y Alojamientos Turísticos.

Read the full press release here