It was meant to enhance public safety. Instead, Spain’s controversial Royal Decree 933/2021 has ignited a slow-burning tourism crisis, pitting travel businesses and hoteliers against a bureaucratic bull no one asked to wrestle.
Since 1 January this year, travel providers and hoteliers across Spain have been legally required to collect and report more personal information from their clients than in any other EU member state — a requirement so intrusive and cumbersome that it’s leaving the Spanish tourism sector red-faced and winded.
While the sun still shines on the Costa del Sol, dark clouds are gathering over the Iberian Peninsula’s prized tourism economy — an industry that brought in over €100 billion pre-pandemic and helped power Europe’s second-most visited country to global stardom.
But now? It’s struggling to breathe under the weight of government red tape.
A Regulation Out of Step — and Out of Time
Royal Decree 933/2021 — an oddly specific number for such a blunt instrument—is being labelled a direct threat to Spain’s competitiveness in a sector already facing challenges from anti-tourism sentiment, crowded landmark sites, and Airbnb’s juggernaut.
“It adds friction within the value chain and increases costs,” said the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), which, together with its partners, has made repeated and (so far) unanswered representations to Spanish ministries. Now they’ve gone straight to Brussels, notifying the European Commission due to serious concerns over the Decree’s compatibility with GDPR.
In the careful, starchy language of the EU, that’s code for: “You may have just shot yourself in the foot. Twice.”
The issue isn’t only a legal conflict, though that’s plenty serious. It’s about a disproportionate data burden foisted onto tour operators, destination management companies (DMCs), travel agents, and hoteliers, large and small, especially small.
Under the new rules, operators must submit a dizzying volume of guest information, including details that go well beyond what’s collected elsewhere in Europe. This is all in a world where travellers increasingly demand seamless digital experiences, not clipboard check-ins reminiscent of Soviet-era border posts.
Operators Caught Between Bureaucracy and the Balearics
For international operators like MIKI Travel, which serves thousands of Asian and global travellers annually, Spain’s new demands are more than annoying — they’re a direct hit to operational confidence.
“In 2024, our cultural tours in Spain generated nearly 80,000 room nights,” MIKI stated. “But this Royal Decree has increased complexities, legal requirements, and workloads across the board. It’s straining our value chain and creating uncertainty.”
That’s business-speak for: “If this keeps up, we may have to think twice about selling Spain.”
The sentiment is echoed by Rick Steves’ Europe, a North America-based group tour provider specialising in meaningful travel. They’re on track to send 114 small groups to Spain this year, totalling 3,000 guests and over 3,600 room nights.
“Many of the hotels we work with are small, family-run operations,” said a company spokesperson. “They simply don’t have the spare resources to deal with this kind of added bureaucracy. The decree is already making a noticeable, negative impact.”
And it’s not just the paperwork. Booking tickets to major attractions like the Alhambra or Sagrada Familia is becoming an Olympic sport. Add anti-tourist protests in Barcelona or Palma de Mallorca, and suddenly Spain’s charm feels less effortless and more… effortful.
Hoteliers: “We’ve Had Enough”
Spain’s hotel sector is fuming — and not from the summer heat. Ramón Estalella, Secretary-General of CEHAT (Spain’s national confederation of hotels), minced no words.
“The Royal Decree has replaced a framework that worked well for 40 years,” he said. “It lacks clarity, likely breaches EU law, and was introduced without sectoral consensus. It must be repealed.”
Estalella points out that while the decree was supposedly crafted to rein in the explosion of short-term rentals — especially those operating in legal grey zones — the effect has been to hamstring legitimate businesses.
“We support cracking down on illegal operations,” Estalella stressed, “but this legislation is itself unlawful and punishes the compliant.”
And while no fines have yet been levied, Spanish hoteliers fear it’s only time before a bureaucratic slip leads to punitive action — something no small guesthouse owner can easily survive.
The Bigger Picture: Spain’s Risk of Becoming a Tourism Outlier
Intra-European tourism has long thrived on simplicity, shared standards and mutual recognition. However well-intentioned, Spain’s decision to go rogue has effectively cast it as the odd one out — a burdensome, high-friction destination in an otherwise frictionless travel zone.
ETOA, representing operators across the continent, warns that the decree’s ripple effect is being felt beyond Spain. Travel programs that once covered five or six European countries now skip Spain altogether.
It’s not that Spain is less beautiful. It’s become less practical.
With the global tourism industry still rebuilding post-COVID, competitiveness matters more than ever. In today’s climate, travellers — and the operators who serve them — don’t have the patience for paperwork.
What Needs to Happen
The answer isn’t to ignore safety and compliance — far from it. However, as ETOA rightly argues, regulation must be “necessary, rational and proportionate.”
According to critics, Royal Decree 933/2021 is none of the above.
Spain’s government would do well to revisit the decree — not with a defensive posture, but in partnership with the people who keep its tourism engine running: hoteliers, operators, agents and, yes, the visitors themselves.
Otherwise, Spain may find itself waving adiós to more than just paperwork.
For further insights or updates, visit ETOA’s official site.
