Guest registration in the Basque Country: complying with the Ertzaintza
In the Basque Country, the traveller report does not go to SES Hospedajes: it is filed with the Ertzaintza registry. Who must report, how it works, the penalties, and what you can automate today.
The Basque Country does not report to SES Hospedajes
SES Hospedajes is the state platform of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, but in the Basque Country authority over guest registration lies with the Ertzaintza. Basque accommodations report their guests’ data to the regional police’s electronic registry.
Just as in Catalonia with the Mossos d’Esquadra, this is not an extra duty but a different recipient: the reporting obligation of Royal Decree 933/2021 is discharged in the Basque Country before the Ertzaintza. A report for a Bilbao flat sent to SES Hospedajes does not fulfil the obligation.
Official sources
- ertzaintza.euskadi.eus— Official Ertzaintza portal (Basque Government) — guest registration
- BOE-A-2021-17398 — Royal Decree 933/2021— The state regulation behind the registration duty
Who must report in the Basque Country
The obligation covers every accommodation activity located in the Basque Country, whatever its size:
- ✓Hotels, hostels and guest houses.
- ✓Homes and rooms for tourist use and their managers.
- ✓Agrotourism properties and rural houses.
- ✓Campsites and motorhome areas.
- ✓Managers and platforms intermediating the rental of these accommodations.
How registration with the Ertzaintza works
The channel is electronic: the Ertzaintza runs its own guest-registration service where the establishment enrols and reports guest arrivals. Enrolment and instructions are handled through the Basque Government’s official channels.
The deadline matches the state rule: data is reported within 24 hours of arrival, and the guest register must be kept for three years, available for inspection.
The fields follow the traveller-report logic: guest identification, document, date of birth, nationality and stay details. Always copy them exactly as printed on the document — manual transcription is the most common source of defective records.
Penalties: what is at stake
The sanctioning regime is Organic Law 4/2015 on the protection of public safety: irregularities in completing the registers are a minor infringement, fined €100 to €600, and failing to meet the documentary-registration obligations can be a serious infringement, fined €601 to €30,000.
No intent is required: one late report or one unreported guest is enough. In high season, every week without a system compounds the risk.
Official sources
- BOE-A-2015-3442 — Organic Law 4/2015— Public-safety law (sanctioning regime)
The Basque Country and SES Hospedajes: two systems, one duty
If you manage properties inside and outside the Basque Country, two recipients coexist: Basque properties report to the Ertzaintza; properties in regions without their own police registry report to SES Hospedajes. Catalonia, with the Mossos d’Esquadra, is the other regional-registry case.
Data collection can be identical across the whole portfolio: the same online check-in, the same document scan, the same signature. What changes by region is where each report is filed and who files it.
What BookCheckin automates in the Basque Country (and what it does not)
In plain terms: BookCheckin files reports automatically with SES Hospedajes, and today it does not send data to the Ertzaintza or the Mossos d’Esquadra.
For a Basque property, BookCheckin automates everything before the filing: online check-in ahead of arrival, document scanning with data validation, the digital signature, and a tidy record of every stay. You submit the report to the Ertzaintza yourself — from complete, verified data.
If your portfolio includes properties outside the Basque Country and Catalonia, those file themselves: BookCheckin has more than 2,500 accepted reports on SES Hospedajes.
Related resources
- Mossos and Ertzaintza vs SES Hospedajes — blog article— The two regional regimes compared in 5 minutes
- Traveller report template (PDF & Word)— Free model with the Annex I fields for collecting the data
- The traveller report — complete guide— The general obligation, explained
Frequently asked questions
My property is in Bilbao or San Sebastián — do I enrol it in SES Hospedajes?+
No. Accommodations located in the Basque Country report their guests to the Ertzaintza registry, not to SES Hospedajes. The state platform is for establishments in the rest of Spain, except Catalonia, which reports to the Mossos d’Esquadra.
What is the deadline for reporting to the Ertzaintza?+
The same as in the rest of Spain: 24 hours from the guest’s arrival. The guest register must also be kept for three years.
What happens if I do not report guests in the Basque Country?+
Non-compliance is sanctioned under Organic Law 4/2015: €100 to €600 for minor infringements and €601 to €30,000 where it qualifies as serious.
Does BookCheckin file the reports with the Ertzaintza?+
No, not today. BookCheckin automates data collection (online check-in, document scan and digital signature) and leaves the record ready, but you make the submission to the Ertzaintza system yourself. Automatic filing with SES Hospedajes works for your properties outside the Basque Country and Catalonia.
Digitise check-in for your Basque properties
Verified data, scanned documents and digital signatures — plus automatic SES Hospedajes filing for the rest of your portfolio.