Traveller registration and SES.Hospedajes: a practical guide for your vacation rental

If you rent out a vacation home in Spain, the “parte de viajeros” (traveller report) is no longer a paper form for the Guardia Civil: it’s a mandatory digital submission through the Interior Ministry’s SES.Hospedajes platform, regulated by Royal Decree 933/2021. Many owners find out late, with the guest already at the door. This guide explains in plain language who is obliged, what data to collect, within what deadlines and what happens if you don’t — and how to turn it into a step your guest completes from their phone before arriving.

What is traveller registration and where does it come from?

Royal Decree 933/2021 sets documentary registration and reporting obligations for lodging activities and vehicle rental. It replaces the old check-in reports sent to the Police or Guardia Civil with a centralised online submission through the SES.Hospedajes platform, fully enforceable since December 2024. The stated goal is public security: knowing who is staying where.

Who has to report?

Everyone providing lodging services: hotels, guesthouses, campsites and also tourist-use homes and vacation rentals, whether managed professionally or not. If you rent your vacation home to travellers — even a single property you manage yourself — you must register as an obliged party and report your guests’ data.

What data you must collect and report

• ✓For each traveller aged 14 or over: full name, sex, identity document type and number (DNI, NIE or passport), nationality, date of birth, home address and a contact phone or email.
• ✓For children under 14: their details and their family relationship with the accompanying adult.
• ✓About the stay and the contract: check-in and check-out dates, number of travellers and payment details (payment method used).

Besides reporting it, you must keep a documentary record of these operations for 3 years.

Deadlines and how it’s submitted

First, a one-off registration of your activity on the SES.Hospedajes portal (ses.hospedajes.interior.gob.es), using a digital certificate or Cl@ve. Then, for every stay, the travellers’ data must be submitted within a maximum of 24 hours from the start of the lodging. Submission can be done via the web form, file uploads or integrations, depending on your volume.

What are the fines?

Non-compliance is sanctioned under Organic Law 4/2015 on public security: minor infractions range from €100 to €600, and serious ones can reach €30,000. Not reporting, reporting late or with incomplete data can trigger a fine. In practice, the biggest risk for a small owner is having no process: handwritten notes, passport photos over WhatsApp and submissions forgotten in high season.

The real problem: collecting this data without ruining arrival

Nobody wants to start their holiday dictating a passport number in the living room. Requesting documents by message the night before, transcribing them by hand and uploading them one by one is slow, error-prone and looks unprofessional. The fix is to separate the formality from the arrival: have guests provide their details before travelling, from their phone, in a form in their language.

How Kanarix handles it

With Kanarix, the guest portal includes digital check-in: after booking, each traveller fills in their details (document, nationality, date of birth…) from their phone before arrival, and digitally signs the house rules. You receive the information structured and ready to submit to SES.Hospedajes, with the record kept tidy and stored. Arrival night is for welcoming guests, not paperwork.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to register even with just one vacation rental?

Yes. The RD 933/2021 obligation covers anyone providing lodging, professionally or not, with one or several properties. A single vacation rental already requires registering with SES.Hospedajes and reporting travellers.

Do Booking or Airbnb report the data for me?

Platforms have their own obligations as intermediaries, but they don’t replace yours as the lodging operator. Reporting your guests’ data for each stay is the accommodation’s responsibility.

What is the deadline to report?

A maximum of 24 hours from the start of the stay. The practical approach is to collect the data before arrival with digital check-in, so you don’t depend on check-in night.

How long must I keep the data?

The documentary record must be kept for 3 years. It’s best kept digital and organised by stay, not on loose sheets.

What fines apply if I don’t report?

Under Organic Law 4/2015, minor infractions run €100-600 and serious ones can reach €30,000. The best protection is a systematic process that doesn’t rely on memory.