SES.Hospedajes: the Spanish guest-registration obligation for tourist accommodation, explained.
Royal Decree 933/2021 requires every tourist accommodation in Spain — short-term rentals, holiday apartments, hotels, hostels and the like — to transmit traveller and reservation data to the Ministry of the Interior through SES.Hospedajes. Fully enforceable since 2 December 2024, after an adaptation period that ended on 1 October 2024.
Last reviewed May 20263 official sources
§ 01
This guide and its scope
This guide covers only the lodging scope: tourist accommodation in Spain (hotels, hostels, guesthouses, tourist-rental dwellings, tourist apartments, rural houses, campsites and youth hostels). Royal Decree 933/2021 also regulates the vehicle-rental sector, but that scope has its own procedures and a separate submission system: if your activity is car rental, refer directly to the Ministry of the Interior. Estadia is dedicated exclusively to accommodation filings to SES.Hospedajes.
§ 02
What Royal Decree 933/2021 requires
Royal Decree 933/2021 (BOE-A-2021-17461) sets the documentary and reporting obligations of lodging operators for public-security purposes. It replaces the paper traveller report ("parte de viajeros") filed under Ministerial Order INT/1922/2003 and moves everything to SES.Hospedajes, a national electronic registry operated by the State Secretariat for Security ("Secretaría de Estado de Seguridad"). It requires two separate submissions: the reserva de hospedaje, covering the booking itself, and the parte de viajeros, the per-guest report. It adds new required fields, including relationships between travellers and, where the operator collects it, payment information.
§ 03
Who must register with SES.Hospedajes
The obligation applies to any person or entity carrying out lodging activities in Spain, whether professionally or not: hotels, hostels, guesthouses, tourist-rental dwellings ("viviendas de uso turístico", VUT), tourist apartments, rural houses, campsites and youth hostels ("albergues"). When a booking comes through a platform such as Airbnb or Booking.com, the operator of the physical property remains the obligated party; platforms and intermediaries carry separate obligations for the data they handle.
§ 04
What data you must report
Per traveller: full name, sex, date of birth, nationality, document type and number (DNI, NIE/TIE or passport), permanent residence address, landline, mobile, email, and the relationship with accompanying travellers where a minor is present. Guests under 14 are registered through the accompanying adult. Reservation fields: entry and exit dates and times, number of travellers, type of accommodation, and internet access. Payment fields (card type and number, holder, expiry, amount, date) are required only where the lodging itself handles the transaction, a scope narrowed by the Ministry in late 2024 and currently under challenge at the Supreme Court by the hotel-industry associations.
§ 05
The two 24-hour deadlines
Each submission has its own 24-hour deadline. The reserva de hospedaje is due within 24 hours of the reservation being formalised; the parte de viajeros within 24 hours of the start of the stay. For same-day bookings or walk-ins, both collapse into the same day. Records must be retained for three years from the end of the service.
§ 06
Operators with multiple properties
The obligation is per stay and per property, not per operator. Each reserva de hospedaje and parte de viajeros is filed linked to the specific lodging that produced the booking, even when one operator runs several. SES.Hospedajes identifies each property by its regional tourism-registry number (Andalusia: VFT/A-…; Catalonia: HUTB-…; Valencian Community: VT-…, with equivalents in other autonomous communities). An operator with five tourist rentals on the Costa del Sol files up to two communications per stay and per property, not one per operator. The audit trail is kept per property too.
§ 07
What happens if a filing is rejected
SES.Hospedajes validates each submission on receipt. If the system rejects a filing because of a data issue (DNI with a wrong check digit, expired passport, malformed date, missing required field), the operator remains responsible for the 24-hour deadline: rejection does not pause the clock. The correction and re-submission must happen inside the same window. In practice, most rejections are data-quality problems rather than rule disputes, which is why validating the required fields before pressing send, and having a clear protocol to collect a corrected datum from the guest (mobile message, second signature on the pre-check-in form, fresh photo of the document), matters.
§ 08
Fines for failing to report
Breaches are sanctioned under Organic Law 4/2015 on Public Safety ("Ley Orgánica 4/2015 de protección de la seguridad ciudadana"). Minor infractions, such as filing late or with partial data, carry fines of €100 to €600. Serious infractions, including missing records or failure to transmit, run from €601 to €30,000. Very serious cases (typically repeated or obstructive breaches) reach €600,000. Fines apply per infraction, not per business.
§ 09
How Estadia handles SES.Hospedajes
Estadia connects to your booking channels, sends a multilingual pre-check-in form with ID scanning to every lead guest, and lets you send each filing to SES.Hospedajes with a single click via the official API: the reserva de hospedaje when the booking is confirmed, the parte de viajeros once the guests have checked in. The Today screen surfaces each at the right moment and reminds you before either 24-hour deadline runs out. Every submission is stored with its SES reference and timestamp, giving you a complete audit trail that replaces the paper registration log ("libro registro").
This page summarises the regulation and is informational only. For your specific case, consult a qualified adviser. The legal position on payment-data requirements may evolve as the Supreme Court challenge progresses.
Frequently asked questions
What operators ask most
Who must comply with Royal Decree 933/2021?
Any natural or legal person operating accommodation in Spain — whether professionally or not — including hotels, hostels, guesthouses, tourist apartments, vacation rentals ("viviendas de uso turístico"), rural houses, campsites and hostels. When a booking comes in through a platform such as Airbnb or Booking.com, the operator of the physical property remains the obligated party.
What are the SES.Hospedajes deadlines?
There are two 24-hour deadlines. The booking record ("reserva de hospedaje") must be sent within 24 hours of the booking being confirmed; the guest record ("parte de viajeros") within 24 hours of the stay starting. For same-day bookings or walk-ins both deadlines fall within the same day. Records are kept for three years after the end of service.
What data must be submitted for each guest?
Full name, sex, date of birth, nationality, document type and number (DNI, NIE/TIE or passport), home address, landline, mobile phone, email, and relationship to other travellers when a minor is involved. Children under 14 are registered through the accompanying adult.
What fines apply for failure to file?
Article 9 of Royal Decree 933/2021 refers the sanctioning regime to Organic Law 4/2015 on Public Safety. Minor infractions (late filings or partial data) carry fines from €100 to €600; serious infractions (missing records or failure to transmit), from €601 to €30,000; very serious cases reach €600,000. Each breach can be sanctioned independently.
How is each property identified in SES.Hospedajes?
By its autonomous-community tourist-registration number — Andalusia (VFT/A-…), Valencian Community (VT-…), Canary Islands (VV-…), and the equivalents elsewhere. The obligation is per stay and per property: an operator running five vacation rentals submits up to two communications per stay per property, not one per operator.
What happens if SES.Hospedajes rejects a submission?
The rejection does not pause the clock. The operator remains responsible for the 24-hour deadline: correction and resubmission must be completed inside the same window. Most rejections are data-quality issues (DNI checksum errors, expired passports, malformed dates, missing required fields), not regulatory ones.
One 30-minute call and your first property is live. Guests check themselves in from their phone. The booking gets filed when it lands, the guests when they're in, both inside the 24 hours. Two weeks free, no invoice until you're live.
