Guest registration in SES.HOSPEDAJES: step-by-step guide

Guest completing online check-in on a phone before arriving at the flat

In this article

What SES.HOSPEDAJES is
Who must register guests
What to ask each guest
Deadlines: the 24-hour rule
How to register
Manual upload or web service
Keeping the data
Fines
Common mistakes
How Apartop does it
Frequently asked questions
Sources

If you let a holiday flat in Spain, you must record every guest and send their details to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior through SES.HOSPEDAJES. This applies whether you live in Spain or abroad, and whether you have one flat or twenty. The rule comes from Royal Decree 933/2021, and the deadline is tight: the report must be sent immediately and within 24 hours at the latest.

This guide walks you through it with the official text in hand: who is covered, what to ask each guest, how to register, the ways to send reports, how long to keep the data, the fines and the mistakes we see most. At the end we explain how Apartop handles it.

What SES.HOSPEDAJES is

SES.HOSPEDAJES is the online platform of Spain's Secretariat of State for Security, part of the Ministry of the Interior. Anyone providing accommodation uses it to report their guests and bookings. Think of it as the digital version of the old "police registration" of hotel guests that many countries have.

The legal basis is Royal Decree 933/2021 (published in the BOE, Spain's official gazette), which builds on Organic Law 4/2015 on public safety. The reporting duties took effect on 2 January 2023 (third final provision of the decree), but the transition period for the platform ended on 2 December 2024: according to the tourism employers' press release after their meeting with the Ministry on 4 October 2024, there would be no further extensions. Only the police can process the data, with access for the courts and public prosecutors (art. 7).

Until implementing rules are issued, Order INT/1922/2003 on guest registers and check-in forms remains in force insofar as it does not conflict with the decree (sole repealing provision). The Ministry committed in 2024 to a ministerial order implementing the decree and put a draft out for consultation, but as of 11 October 2026 it has not been published in the BOE: it is announced, pending publication in the BOE.

One exception: in Catalonia and the Basque Country, reports are not sent through SES.HOSPEDAJES but through the regional police systems (Mossos d'Esquadra and Ertzaintza); follow their instructions.

Who must register guests

The decree covers any person or company providing accommodation for payment, whether professionally or not, plus intermediaries such as booking platforms (art. 2). Holiday apartments are expressly included, so even a single flat let a few weeks a year is in scope. Living outside Spain does not change this.

The decree distinguishes two profiles:

	Professional	Non-professional
Report bookings and guests (art. 6)	✅	✅
Keep an electronic register for 3 years (art. 5)	✅	❌
Must report electronically	✅	May use other means

If you are a private individual letting non-professionally, the decree still applies: you are exempt from the register and retention duty (art. 5.4), but not from the reporting duties in article 6, which you may carry out by non-electronic means (art. 6.4). Which profile fits you depends on how you run the flat (for example, through a company or as a business activity). Your gestor can tell you.

What to ask each guest

The check-in form must be signed by every guest aged 14 or over. For children under 14, the accompanying adult provides their details (art. 4). You must also make sure the data matches the guest's identity document.

According to Annex I of the decree and the Ministry's technical instructions, you need for each person:

First name, first surname and second surname (the second is required for Spanish ID cards, common in Spanish names).
Document type (Spanish DNI, NIE foreigner's number, passport or other) and number, required for adults.
Document "support number", required for Spanish DNI and NIE cards.
Date of birth, nationality and sex.
Full home address.
At least a phone number or an email address.
Relationship to the adult, for minors.

And for the stay: booking reference and date, check-in and check-out date and time, number of guests and payment details (payment type: platform, card, bank transfer, cash and so on).

Deadlines: the 24-hour rule

Article 6.3 says the data must be reported when a booking or contract is made, when it is cancelled and when the stay begins, "immediately" and no later than 24 hours after each event.

For a holiday flat this means two kinds of report:

Booking report (RH in Spanish): when a booking is made or cancelled. How this applies to bookings taken through platforms that are themselves covered (Airbnb, Booking.com and so on) is worth checking on the SES.HOSPEDAJES portal or with your adviser.
Guest report (PV, parte de viajeros): when the stay starts, with every guest's details. The 24 hours run from check-in.

Professional or not, you must also report your details and each property before starting: within ten days of completing the administrative steps for the activity and, in any case, before the first stay (art. 6.1 and 6.2).

How to register

You register once, on the SES.HOSPEDAJES online portal, using Spanish electronic identification:

Go to the section for registering establishments on the portal.
State whether your activity is professional or not and enter your details as the host (arrendador).
Add each flat as an establishment, with its full address.
If you will use software that sends reports for you, tick sending communications by web service (you can also enable it later from your registered details).

You will receive a host code (código de arrendador), an establishment code for each flat and, if you asked for the web service, a web service user (ending in "WS") with a password. Keep them safe: any check-in software will ask for them.

If you live abroad: the portal relies on Spanish electronic identification, which many non-resident owners do not have. In practice, many ask their gestor or property manager to complete the registration for them. Also note that this is separate from your regional tourist licence and from the national Single Rental Register (NRUA). The regional licence is still compulsory, while the Single Register was annulled by the Supreme Court in 2026 (that article explains what is left of it).

Manual upload or web service

There are three ways to send reports:

Method	How it works	Best for
Web form	You type each guest into the portal	One flat, few bookings
XML file ("bulk upload")	You upload a file with one or more reports of the same type	When your software creates the file
Web service	Your software sends the report automatically	Owners who do not want to chase deadlines

The file must be XML following the official template (no spreadsheets or CSV). If some reports contain errors, the system saves the valid ones and you can fix the rest in "Consulta y gestión de mis comunicaciones" (view and manage my communications).

The web service is asynchronous: SES receives the submission, assigns it a batch number and processes it later. A report only counts once the batch has been processed without errors, so your software should check the batch and retry if something fails.

Keeping the data

Professionals must keep the data in an electronic register for 3 years after the stay ends (art. 5.3). Non-professionals are exempt from the register and retention duty (art. 5.4), though they must still report.

This is personal data, so the EU GDPR applies: store it securely and delete it once you no longer have to keep it.

If your flat is in Andalusia, you must also give guests the entry document required by Decree 28/2016 and keep it for a year. See our page on the Andalusian entry document.

Fines

Article 8 of the decree refers to the penalty regime of Organic Law 4/2015:

Breach	Category	Fine (art. 39, LO 4/2015)
No register, or required reports not sent	Serious (art. 36.20)	€601 to €30,000
Errors in the register, or reports sent late	Minor (art. 37.9)	€100 to €600

Serious fines are split into three bands (the lowest goes up to €10,400) and, as a rule, are imposed in the lowest band unless there are aggravating factors.

Common mistakes

Collecting data on arrival day. If guests turn up at midnight without having filled anything in, the 24 hours fly by. Ask beforehand.
Missing the support number on Spanish DNI or NIE cards, or the second surname.
No phone and no email. Adults need at least one.
Unrecognisable town for guests living in Spain: the system needs to identify the municipality.
Leaving people out: every guest counts, including children (with details given by the adult).
Assuming a report went through without checking the batch was accepted.
Mixing up procedures: SES.HOSPEDAJES does not replace the regional tourist licence or the NRUA.

How Apartop does it

In Apartop, guest registration is built into online check-in:

Each booking has its own check-in link, which guests complete on their phone before arriving. The form asks for every field SES requires and validates it: adult or minor, document type and support number, country, phone or email and the relationship of minors.
Guests can scan their passport or ID with the camera instead of typing; the photo never leaves the phone (passport scanner).
Every adult signs with a finger on screen.
For guests living in Spain, Apartop works out the official municipality code from the postcode and town, and warns you if it cannot match it.
A guest panel shows the status of each report and the 24-hour deadline from check-in time.
Guests' identity data is deleted 3 years after check-out.

On the Free plan (up to 2 flats) you download the report as the official XML and upload it yourself. On Pro (€9 per flat per month + VAT) Apartop sends it automatically through the web service as soon as the guest completes check-in, checks the batch and retries if there is an error. Today Apartop sends the guest report (PV); it does not send booking reports (RH). Full details on our pricing page.

To compare tools, see our round-up of guest registration software. Or start for free: new accounts get 30 days of Pro.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to register guests if I only let my flat occasionally?

Yes. Royal Decree 933/2021 covers anyone providing accommodation, professionally or not. As a private individual your duties are the reporting duties in article 6; if you are not a professional, you are spared the electronic register and the 3-year retention duty.

I live outside Spain. Does this still apply to me?

Yes. The obligation depends on where the flat is, not where you live. If you do not have Spanish electronic identification, a gestor or property manager can usually handle the registration with you.

How long do I have to send the guest report?

It must be sent immediately and, at the latest, within 24 hours of the stay starting. Bookings and cancellations have the same 24-hour limit from when they happen.

Do children need to sign?

No. Everyone aged 14 or over signs. For children under 14, the accompanying adult provides the details, and you must state the relationship.

Can I upload a spreadsheet to SES.HOSPEDAJES?

No. File upload only accepts XML using the Ministry's template. Software such as Apartop can create it for you.

What happens if I report late?

Late or incorrect reports are a minor offence under Organic Law 4/2015, with fines of €100 to €600. Not reporting at all is a serious offence, with fines of €601 to €30,000.

Does SES.HOSPEDAJES apply in Catalonia and the Basque Country?

No. There, reports are sent to the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Ertzaintza through their own systems.

Sources

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