OVIEDO, Spain
Controversial new rules requiring Spanish hotels, car rental agencies, and other tourism operators to collect additional personal data from travelers came into effect on Monday.
The new rules are reportedly meant to help police combat terrorism and organized crime, but the beefed-up personal information requirement has sparked criticism from the tourism industry, which argues this will infringe on privacy while making travel more expensive and time-consuming.
“Now we have to include around 40 client data points, asking for personal information about relationships, payment methods – like which account or cards are used – and this is even necessary just for making bookings,” Jorge Marichal,…
