Do I need to keep signed guest registration forms? Deadlines and formats

Yes, you must keep signed guest registration forms for at least 3 years. The law accepts both physical and digital formats, as long as you can produce them during an inspection. Here's what you need to know.

If you manage any type of accommodation in Spain — hotel, holiday apartment, rural house, or vacation rental — you already know guest registration is mandatory. What many hosts overlook is that submitting data to SES Hospedajes isn't the end of the process. You also need to retain the signed forms.

What does the law say?

Royal Decree 933/2021 requires accommodation providers to keep signed guest registration forms. The obligation has two parts:

1. Store the form with the guest's signature (digital or handwritten)
2. Keep it accessible for the legally mandated retention period

The purpose is straightforward: law enforcement needs to be able to access records if required, even months after the stay.

How long do I need to keep them?

The general retention period is 3 years from the date of the stay. During that window, any inspection can request your forms and you must be able to produce them.

A few things to keep in mind:

• The clock starts from the guest's check-out date
• If authorities request records within the retention period, you must respond within a reasonable timeframe
• After 3 years, you can — and should — destroy the records to comply with data protection regulations (GDPR)

Failing to retain forms for the required period can result in penalties. And not being able to locate them when asked is, for all practical purposes, the same as not having them.

Physical or digital format?

Both are valid. The regulation doesn't mandate a specific format, as long as the form is legible, complete, and includes the guest's signature. In practice:

• Physical format: printed forms signed by hand, filed by date or property. Works for low volumes but scales poorly and is vulnerable to loss, damage, or disorganization.
• Digital format: PDF files, scanned images, or records in a management platform. Easier to search, back up, and present during an inspection. This is the option we recommend for any host with more than a handful of bookings per month.

If you use digital signatures — like the ones Autoregistro offers — the form is born digital, with the signature embedded. No printing or scanning required.

How to organize your archive

An archive you can't search quickly is barely better than no archive at all. Some practices that work:

• Organize by property and stay date
• Use descriptive file names if storing PDFs (e.g., 2026-03-15_downtown-apt_garcia-lopez.pdf)
• Run periodic backups if the archive is digital
• If using paper, store forms in labeled folders in a dry, accessible location
• Set a routine to purge records older than 3 years

Data protection: the other side of the coin

Guest registration forms contain personal data protected by the GDPR. That means you need to protect them, not just store them:

• Restrict access to people who genuinely need it
• Don't share forms through insecure channels (no passport photos over WhatsApp)
• Destroy records once the retention period expires
• If you suffer a data breach affecting these records, you're obligated to report it

Keeping forms longer than necessary isn't caution — it's an unnecessary risk under data protection law.

What happens if you don't keep them

If an inspection requests your forms and you can't produce them, you face administrative penalties. The amount depends on severity and repeat offenses, but the message is simple: the cost of proper archiving is infinitely lower than the cost of not doing it.

Simplify archiving with Autoregistro

If you manage multiple properties or a high volume of bookings, maintaining a manual archive of signed forms is a recipe for chaos. Autoregistro solves this at the root:

• Each guest signs digitally during check-in (remote or in-person)
• The signed form is automatically stored in your dashboard, linked to the booking
• You can search, filter, and download any form in seconds
• The history stays accessible for the entire legal retention period
• No folders, scanners, or spreadsheets needed to keep track

The result: you meet the retention obligation without spending a single extra minute filing documents.