What you must ask guests for — and what you needn't
The law lists the details you have to collect: names, sex, date of birth, nationality, document type and number, home address, phone, email, and the relationship between guests if any of them is under 18. It does not ask for a photocopy of anyone's passport, and it does not ask for a photograph.
There is a difference between what the law requires, what the government website asks for, and what a check-in app puts in front of your guests. They are not the same, and the gaps between them are where a lot of unnecessary friction comes from.
Here is the actual list.
About each guest
Every person staying, at every age.
| What it means | |
|---|---|
| First name | |
| First surname | |
| Second surname | Spanish people have two. Most other nationalities do not — leave it blank |
| Sex | |
| Document number | The number on their passport, national ID or Spanish residency card |
| Document support number | A second number, explained below. Professional hosts only |
| Document type | Passport, Spanish DNI, or TIE (Spanish residency card) |
| Nationality | |
| Date of birth | |
| Home address | Full address, town and country — three separate boxes |
| Landline | |
| Mobile | |
| Email address | |
| Number of guests | |
| Relationship between guests | Only required when one of them is under 18 |
The document support number
This one causes more trouble than the rest put together.
It is a second number printed on the document itself, separate from the ID number. On a Spanish DNI or a TIE residency card it is there and easy to find once you know to look. On most foreign passports there is no equivalent.
Two useful things to know. It is only required if you let professionally — the list for non-professional hosts leaves it out entirely. And if your guests are largely British, Irish, Dutch or German holidaymakers with ordinary passports, you will be entering it rarely.
The relationship field
Required whenever anyone in the party is a minor, which in Spain means under 18 — not under 14.
This trips people up because the signing rule uses 14. They are different ages for different purposes. A group with a sixteen-year-old needs this box completed even though the sixteen-year-old signs their own form. There is more on how the two ages interact in children, babies and teenagers.
About the booking
Alongside the guests, you report the booking itself.
- The contract — reference number, date, and signatures
- The stay — date and time of arrival, date and time of departure
- The property — full address, number of rooms, and whether there is internet access
- The payment — how it was paid, which card or account, whose name it was in, the card expiry date, and the date of payment
Yes, that includes internet access. It is a genuine entry on the list, and it surprises everybody.
What you are often asked for, but the law does not require
This is the part worth knowing, because it changes how you deal with guests who push back.
A photocopy or scan of the passport
The law asks you to record information. It does not ask you to keep a copy of anybody's document.
Spain's data protection authority, the AEPD, published a note on exactly this in June 2025, and it is unusually direct.
If you are storing a folder of passport scans because you believe the guest registration rules require it — they do not, and the AEPD's view is that you should not be.
What the AEPD says is sufficient: a form collecting only the fields the decree actually lists. To satisfy yourself the person is who they say they are, check the completed form against the document they show you in person. Where there is no in-person contact, it accepts a digital certificate, checking the details against the payment method used, or sending a one-time code to the guest's phone or email — both of which you are already required to collect anyway.
That last option is worth knowing about. It is a recognised way to verify a remote guest without ever handling their document.
A photograph or selfie of the guest
Nowhere in the law. Some apps offer it as a fraud check, which is a commercial feature, not a legal requirement.
The passport in your hand at check-in
You are responsible for the details being accurate and matching the document — so you do need to see it or have it shown to you. You do not need to hold it, keep it, or take it away.
A signature on a particular form
A signature is required, from everyone aged 14 and over. But the law does not prescribe a particular form or a particular technology.
What you should be able to tell a guest
Guests query this constantly, and understandably — it is a lot of personal information to hand to a stranger with a villa. If one flatly refuses, that has its own answer.
The short version worth having ready:
- It is a legal requirement in Spain, not something you have chosen to ask.
- It goes to the Ministry of the Interior, and only the police, judges and prosecutors can use it. See the law in plain English.
- You are not keeping their passport, and you are not keeping a copy of it.
- Hotels have done exactly the same thing for decades. It is not new and it is not specific to holiday lets.
That last point matters more than you would think. A great many guests believe hotels do not report them. They do, and they always have.