“On its very first day of operation, the new system for registering travellers’ data in Spain, which has been criticised by almost all of the country’s tourist world, was knocked out.
With “Big Brother”, as it has been described, collapsing, the president of the Balearic Travel Agents Association AVIBA, Pedro Fiol, said there was chaos. While explaining that the system hardly ever worked during its trial period.
The AVIBA advises its members to take screenshots that prove that the website has been “downed”, bearing in mind that there are fines for non-compliance of up to €30,000. “It is very important to be able to prove that the system was not working and that therefore we could not load the data,” he noted.
Mr Fiol had been warning about the system malfunctions for some time and had anticipated that there would be problems, but this warning was not heeded by the relevant authorities.
Moreover, he has argued – and continues to stress – that the system is very problematic for the travel agency sector and he believes that it will lead to a significant loss of customers. “It is already having an international impact. We can’t upload data we don’t know,” he said.
According to the AVIBA president, the system is designed as a police tool against terrorism and organised crime. However, as he explained, it will not succeed in increasing security. “It will neither prevent nor repel any potential attack. Terrorists with names and surnames will not stay with their faces uncovered in any hotel surrounded by tourists. The measure violates all principles of privacy for our guests. Europe must act. It will be easier to file a tax return than to book a hotel in Spain,” he pointed out.
