Spain's INE occupancy survey in 2026: if the letter arrives, must you answer? (hotels, hostales, apartments and rural houses)

Updated 9 November 2026

Many hotels, hostales, tourist apartments and rural houses in Spain one day receive a letter from the National Statistics Institute (INE) with an order number and a password. It is the Tourist Accommodation Occupancy Survey, the source of the official traveller and overnight-stay figures for every province, including Cádiz and Seville. This guide sums up what the Official State Gazette (BOE) and INE documents say as of November 2026, with sources at the end. Where we could not confirm something, we say so. It is not legal advice.

What it is and who gets it

INE runs it with separate questionnaires for hotels (including hostales and pensiones), tourist apartments, rural tourism, campsites and hostels:

Not everyone answers: it is a sample. The hotel survey methodology explains that establishments are chosen by province, category and size, that large or relevant ones are always included and that those chosen stay in the sample for 4 years.
The starting directory comes from the registers of each region's tourism department.
To answer you must first have received an INE notice with the order number and password (IRIA help). If you have not received one, there is nothing to do.
In Andalusia you answer INE, not the regional government: the regional statistics institute (IECA) explains it receives the microdata from INE.
Tourist homes (VUT): INE's experimental statistic on tourist homes uses platform data without asking owners. We found no official source saying whether a tourist home can be drawn into the apartments sample.

It is compulsory

If you are selected, you must answer:

Royal Decree 55/2026 (BOE of 4 February 2026), approving the 2026 annual programme, lists operation 9621 «Tourist Accommodation Occupancy Survey» and says in article 4 that data for all its statistics «shall be required on a compulsory basis».
The questionnaires ask for answers that are «truthful, accurate, complete and on time».
Law 12/1989 on Public Statistics sets the fines: minor 60.11 to 300.51 euros, serious 300.52 to 3,005.06 euros and very serious 3,005.07 to 30,050.61 euros (article 51, consolidated BOE text). Late or wrong data counts as serious if it causes «serious harm» to the service, and minor if not.
We found no data on how often INE fines accommodation businesses.

What is sent and when

It is monthly. According to INE's questionnaires:

Hotels and hostales (form EOH2-15): arrivals and overnight stays for each day of the reference week, by the traveller's place of residence; rooms occupied; staff; and the average daily rate (ADR) by client type, without VAT, including the share of bookings from your own website and from online agencies.
Rural houses (form EOTR-21): travellers and overnight stays for the whole month, days open, staff and the average price of a double room or the whole house.
Deadline: the «five calendar days following» the period the data refer to, as forms EOH2-15, EOHXML-20 and EOTR-21 state. We did not confirm the deadline for apartments and campsites.

How to answer

There are three routes:

Online: IRIA, INE's official questionnaire platform (rural tourism, campsites and hostels are listed there), or the ARCE system cited in the hotel and apartment methodologies.
With an XML file generated by the property's management software: the methodology says such files are generated «directly in the management systems». Those sending XML also fill in form EOHXML-20 with what the file does not include (staff and rates by client type).
On paper, to INE's Provincial Office.
If your management software or channel manager produces the INE XML, switch it on: it saves you the work every month.

It is not SES.HOSPEDAJES

They are two separate obligations with different recipients:

SES.HOSPEDAJES (Royal Decree 933/2021) is the traveller register for public security: the data are processed only by the security forces. The decree does not mention statistics or INE.
The INE survey asks for aggregate figures (how many travellers, how many nights, average price), not each person's details.
Filing records with SES.HOSPEDAJES does not count as answering INE, nor the other way round. See our SES.HOSPEDAJES guide for the other part.

Why answering well is in your interest

This survey produces the official occupancy and price figures for your province, used by town halls, provincial councils, the press and AI assistants when someone asks when an area is quieter or how much a night costs there. And the questionnaire makes you look each month at how many bookings come from your own website versus online agencies: a good gauge of your dependence on platforms.

How iQuota helps

iQuota publishes an official page for each property with direct booking, no commission and payment at the property, read by AI assistants and search engines: more bookings through your own channel. iQuota does not answer INE surveys or file records for you, and cannot guarantee that an AI will recommend your property.

Want more bookings through your own website? The first 30 hotels join free until 30 June 2027.

See the Founding Hotels programme

Frequently asked questions

Must every hotel answer?

No. It is a sample: those who receive INE's notice with order number and password answer. Large or relevant establishments in each province and category are always included.

Is it compulsory if the letter arrives?

Yes. Royal Decree 55/2026 includes the survey in the 2026 annual programme and says its data are required on a compulsory basis.

What is the fine for not answering?

Law 12/1989 provides minor fines of 60.11 to 300.51 euros and serious ones of 300.52 to 3,005.06 euros; very serious ones reach 30,050.61 euros.

What is the deadline?

Five calendar days after the period the data refer to, according to INE's hotel and rural-house questionnaires.

Does filing with SES.HOSPEDAJES count?

No. SES.HOSPEDAJES is the Interior Ministry's traveller register; the survey is INE's and the obligations are separate.

Sources

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