The deadline, the data, and how you file
Three things make up the duty: when you file, what you collect, and where it goes. None is complicated on its own. The trouble is the detail — especially the data — so here's all of it in order.
01The 24-hour clock
You have 24 hours from check-in to file each guest's details. The clock doesn't pause for weekends, a public holiday, a late flight, or the portal being down. A Saturday-night arrival means a Sunday-night deadline. The practical consequence: collect the data before arrival, so filing is a formality rather than a scramble.
02The data — and why it's the hard part
The decree's Anexo I lists roughly seventeen data points per traveller, rising past twenty in some cases. The catch most owners miss: the exact fields depend on the guest's document and country.
| Field | When required |
|---|---|
| Name & first surname | Always |
| Second surname | Spanish documents |
| Nationality & date of birth | Always |
| Document type & number | Always |
| Document support number | DNI / TIE only |
| Passport number + country of issue | Foreign documents |
| Place of habitual residence | Always |
| Official municipality codes (INE) | Guests living in Spain |
| A contact (phone or email) | Adults |
A photo of the passport doesn't get you there — it omits residence, a contact and (for Spanish-resident guests) the official municipality codes, and you're not allowed to keep ID images anyway. A Spanish national needs a second surname and a support number; a foreign guest needs a passport number and country of issue. Send the wrong combination and the file is rejected — which is the single most common reason a filing fails.
03Where you file
Most of Spain → SES.Hospedajes
The Ministry of the Interior's platform covers Madrid, Andalusia, Valencia, the Balearics, the Canaries and the rest. But Catalonia files to the Mossos d'Esquadra register and the Basque Country to the Ertzaintza. Filing to the wrong system counts as not filing at all.
04Logging in
You don't get a username and password. The portals need strong electronic identification — an FNMT digital certificate or Cl@ve (idCAT for Catalonia) — and behind that, a Spanish NIE. Getting one is fiddly, and it's the part that stops owners abroad in their tracks. Honestly, this step is on you: no tool can obtain a certificate on your behalf. It's a one-time hurdle, though, not a per-guest one.
05How most hosts actually do it
Almost nobody hand-builds the file. Here's the realistic flow — the one we use for our own place:
Connect your bookings
Paste your Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo calendar link, or add bookings by hand. Real reservations import automatically.
Send each guest a link
They fill in their own details before arrival — only the fields their country needs, with the official codes resolved for them.
We build the file
In the exact format your portal expects, checked line by line so it won't be rejected.
You upload it
From your own account, with your own login. That last step stays yours.
Stay Comply by Tourist Tax Manager
Keeping our own place in Sitges compliant convinced us the data step should be automatic, so we built it. It's free for your first 3 bookings, and it's growing to handle tourist tax too.
See how it works06Keeping records
If you're a professional host, keep your documentary file for three years from the end of each stay. Note the nuance: only the data fields are submitted to the portal; anything you retain stays with you as your own record. And don't over-keep — image copies of guests' IDs shouldn't be stored at all.
Sources
RD 933/2021 · Anexo I
The field list and deadlines this page is built from.
Read the decreeSES.Hospedajes
Login, provider registration and submission for most of Spain.
Official portal