SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 10 December (EUROPA PRESS) –
On Tuesday, Jessica de León, the Minister of Tourism for the Government of the Canary Islands, reiterated her request to the Ministry of the Interior to delay the registration of travellers following the “chaos” witnessed over the recent long weekend in December and the backlash from the tourism sector.
In response to queries posed by AHI and PP during the Parliament’s control session, she emphasised that the Canary Islands Government is “entirely opposed” to this “big brother” initiative. In fact, she previously dispatched a letter to the ministry last month, urging a postponement since information is “repeatedly” demanded from clients, which complicates the management of tourism and detracts from the visitor experience.
She also expressed disappointment that the data platform was not fully functional in the early days of the programme and sounded a warning that the EU has already flagged “serious breaches” concerning electronic commerce and personal data regulations.
De León explained that the Ministry of Tourism is not in dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior, as a similar situation is unfolding with the digital single window decree and the implementation of the European directive concerning short-term rentals.
“The Government must not continue to ignore the autonomous communities, and we believe that the Government needs to abandon its rigid stance, as it’s a matter of lentils—either you accept them or you do not,” she remarked.
Raúl Acosta, spokesperson for the Mixed Group (AHI), highlighted “the excessive bureaucratic burden, the detrimental effects on competitiveness, and the potential risks to the privacy of these travellers,” expressing his confusion over the “naturalness” with which these new data requirements are accepted.
Carlos Ester (PP) noted that the registration of travellers is an “assault” on tourism, as “no other country, either in Europe or America,” imposes such a detailed demand for information, deeming it a “massive absurdity” and a “direct harm” to the tourism sector.
“This bears more resemblance to a past dictatorship that this country endured than to a fully democratic nation,” he remarked, underscoring the “recklessness” of expecting tourist establishments to retain sensitive personal data for a period of three years.
