If you let your holiday home, you have to report the guests' details and the booking details to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior's official system, SES.Hospedajes. The deadline is 24 hours at most from the booking, and again from the guests' arrival (art. 6.3 RD 933/2021). If you do it on a professional basis, you must also keep the register for three years. Failing to make these reports can be a serious offence. In the homes we manage, we take care of it.
In short
- The rule is Real Decreto 933/2021 (Royal Decree 933/2021), and it also covers apartments, bungalows and similar tourist accommodation (art. 2.1).
- You report details of each guest and of the transaction: contract, dates, property and payment (Annex I).
- There are two moments with a 24-hour deadline: the booking (or its cancellation) and the start of the stay (art. 6.3).
- Those who let on a professional basis keep the register for three years; non-professionals only have to report (art. 5.3 and 5.4).
- Skipping the reports is a serious offence, with fines from €601 (LO 4/2015).
What guest registration is and who it applies to
Real Decreto 933/2021 requires anyone providing accommodation services to record and report their customers' details. It applies whether or not the activity is professional, and expressly includes "apartments, bungalows and other similar tourist accommodation" (art. 2.1). The preamble mentions short-stay tourist homes.
In practical terms: if you have a flat in Playa del Inglés or a bungalow in Maspalomas let by the night to tourists, this applies to you, whether you run it yourself or a company manages it. It is a separate obligation from the tourism authorisation governed by Ley 6/2025.
What data you need to collect
Annex I of the royal decree splits it into two groups:
| Group | Data |
|---|---|
| Guests | Full name, sex, identity document and its document (support) number, nationality, date of birth, place of residence, phone, email, number of guests and, if there are minors, their family relationship |
| Transaction | Contract details, dates and times, property details and payment details |
It's quite a lot of information, so it's best to ask for it before arrival rather than in a rush at the door.
Deadlines: 24 hours
The report must be made immediately and, in any case, within 24 hours at most (art. 6.3):
| When | What is reported | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Booking or contract | Booking details | 24 hours from the booking |
| Cancellation | The cancellation of that booking | 24 hours from the cancellation |
| Start of the stay | Details of the guests arriving | 24 hours from check-in |
An example: in March, a family books a week in August in Puerto Rico. The first report is due within 24 hours of the booking in March, and the second within 24 hours of their arrival in August. If they cancel in June, the cancellation is also reported within 24 hours.
How long you have to keep the data
Anyone providing the service on a professional basis must keep the register for three years from the end of the service (art. 5.3). Non-professional activity is exempt from keeping and retaining the register, although the reports still have to be made (art. 5.4).
If you're not sure which of the two applies to you, check with your tax adviser or a lawyer before deleting anything.
SES.Hospedajes
Reports are made through SES.Hospedajes, the Ministry of the Interior's platform, which went live on 2 December 2024 according to the La Moncloa press release.
Penalties
The penalties are set out in Ley Orgánica 4/2015:
- not keeping the registers or not making the reports is a serious offence (art. 36.20), with a fine of €601 to €30,000 (art. 39.1);
- irregularities in complying are a minor offence (art. 37.9), with a fine of €100 to €600.
With a good routine it's easy to comply: a pre-arrival form, a check on the day of arrival and submitting the details straight away.
How to look after your guests' privacy
You'll be handling identity documents, phone numbers and email addresses of people who trust you. Beyond what each regulation requires, some simple habits reduce the risks:
- ask only for the data needed for the registration;
- explain to guests why you're asking for it;
- avoid keeping photos of passports on your phone or in messaging chats;
- limit who has access to that information;
- delete what you no longer need once the period that applies to you is over, and ask a professional if you have questions about data protection.
How we do it at Canarias Prime Homes
In the homes we manage, we register guests in the official system, SES.Hospedajes, as part of the management, so you don't have to keep track of every booking. It's one more task on top of all the others when you run the home yourself, as we explain in managing your holiday home from abroad.
In our experience, most guests are perfectly happy to provide their details when it's explained before arrival that it's a legal requirement in Spain. What causes friction is asking for them in a rush at the door.
For the other legal requirements for a holiday home, see our guides on the licence and the homeowners' association.
General information, updated on 5 October 2026. It is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer.
Sources and notes
- Real Decreto 933/2021 (BOE no. 257 of 27/10/2021): text in the BOE. Arts. 2.1, 5.3, 5.4 and 6.3 and Annex I.
- Launch of SES.Hospedajes: La Moncloa press release, 02/12/2024.
- Ley Orgánica 4/2015, arts. 36.20, 37.9 and 39.1: text in the BOE.
- The privacy tips are practical recommendations, not a legal analysis of data protection.
- Observations marked "in our experience" come from our day-to-day work with owners; they are not statistics.