Jurídicos y Administrativos

🏨 Airlines triumph over Aena as Spain's National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) decides to keep airport tariffs frozen at a 0% variation for 2025, denying Aena's proposed increase of 0.54%. CNMC adjusted Aena's overly conservative traffic forecast for 2025 and set the Maximum Adjusted Revenue Per Passenger (IMAAJ) at €10.35, consistent with 2024 rates. The 0% average variation of the IMAAJ will be asymmetrically distributed among services.

🛈 El registro de viajeros en España es un trámite obligatorio para cualquier persona o empresa que ofrezca alojamiento, estipulado en el Real Decreto 933/2021. Está diseñado para garantizar la seguridad de los huéspedes y colaborar con las autoridades en caso de incidentes. En 2017, las multas por no registrar huéspedes oscilaban entre 100 y 30,000 euros. Las plataformas varían por comunidad autónoma, con SES.HOSPEDAJES como la más común. Herramientas como la API de Mews, junto con Chekin, pueden automatizar el registro y envío de datos de los huéspedes.

🕵️ Javier Hidalgo testified before the Senate Commission regarding alleged influence peddling involving the Spanish President's wife and the Air Europa bailout. He was serene in court but read a statement in the Senate, disputing favoritism claims. Hidalgo has strong ties to the Popular Party and their notable members like the Aznar family and former ministers Acebes and Michavila. Controversies involve unclear situations with figures such as Koldo, Ábalos, and the suspicious OMT secretary-general. Begoña Gómez, the President's wife, visited only Globalia's headquarters among rescued companies and met with Hidalgo Jr. and an unnamed commissioner without guards in San Petersburgo. Hidalgo's claims of 50,000 employees and 35 hotels were challenged as inaccurate.

📌 Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to make the European digital market fairer and more competitive. Google conducted a 10-day SERP experiment in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia to assess DMA implications. The author's 25-year expertise spans OTAs (8 years at Expedia), Google (7 years), and hotels/marketing technology (7 years at Iberostar H&R and Mirai). The DMA has impacted consumer choices, reducing hotel website visibility compared to intermediaries. EU-travel-tech members like Booking and Expedia lobby to regain "lost territory" from Google. The European Commission must ensure the DMA doesn't result in a less competitive market, prioritizing consumers and European businesses.

🛈 In the UK, the top source market for Spain with 16.5 million tourists and a spending of €20.343 billion in the first ten months, a new travel documentation regulation, despite unanimous opposition from the tourism sector and negative votes in both the Senate and Congress, took effect on Monday, December 2. The measure aimed at combating organized crime and terrorism has sparked negative media reactions and calls for a boycott, suggesting British citizens "are not welcome in Spain," risking the viability of Spain's tourism sector.

📌 Tourists registering at hotels, travel agencies, and rent-a-car services in Spain are now required to provide up to 42 pieces of information, according to a mandate by Minister Fernández Grande Markasla starting Monday. This move, contrary to the unanimous opinion of the tourism sector, is critiqued by the hotel industry as a violation of the Data Protection Law. Social media has filled with memes comparing the registration process for travelers in regulated establishments to the perceived ease of entry for immigrants into Spain.

🛈 The Italian Ministry of Interior mandates visual identification for guests of tourist accommodations, rejecting automated remote identification. This measure anticipates the influx of 30-35 million tourists for the Jubilee in 2025 and aims to prevent public order and security risks, including the potential housing of individuals connected to crime or terrorism. The mandate counters the common practice of remote check-in via messaging apps and key codes. Florence will prohibit remote check-ins starting 2025. Aigab, an Italian rental management association, criticizes the measure as discriminatory against short-term rentals.

💸 Spanish travel agencies contemplate halting sales of national products, including Imserso trips, due to a new traveler data registry system implemented by the Ministry of Interior on Monday. The system is causing delays and is considered unprofitable, with AVIBA president Pedro Fiol stating that it doubles the time of a sale and the platform has experienced massive outages. Agencies are considering focusing on international products instead, and decisions will be made based on business models.

📌 As of December 2, Spanish travel agencies mobilize against a new Interior Ministry mandate requiring extensive client data reporting, including sensitive information. Despite 1,994 points of sale registered on the Interior's platform by late November, the sector comprises about 9,000. Penalties for non-compliance range from 100 to 30,000 euros, stirring significant unrest among travel professionals. The real impact of the boycott, supported by private group discussions among thousands of travel agents, remains to be seen.

📌 Spanish tourism sector criticizes implementation of Royal Decree 933/2021, requiring hotels, travel agencies, and car rentals to collect up to 42 customer data points, risking tourism activity. CEAV argues the decree is disproportionate and jeopardizes cybersecurity. Cehat condemns government's lack of communication and transparency, demanding a thorough review of the decree. Non-compliance fines can reach €30,000.