Holidaymakers in Spain have been warned not to leave their passport at the hotel reception when checking in. In Spain, hotels have a legal duty to register the passport details of tourists at check-in.
This was previously to ensure customers didn't leave without settling their bill, reports the Liverpool Echo. However, the Foreign Office recommends you wait until the hotel staff have registered your passport details or taken a photocopy of your passport rather than leaving it at reception to collect later.
Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents told the Daily Mail: "In the past, many hotels retained passports to ensure that customers didn't sneak off without settling their bills, but in the days of credit cards this is largely unnecessary.
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"Although it is highly unlikely that your passport would be misused, lost, or stolen by your hotel, once your details have been taken down, you are quite within your rights to insist that it is returned."
It's also important to not carry all your valuables in one place and to keep a photocopy or scanned copy of your own passport somewhere safe.
You should also take extra care to guard passports, money and personal belongings when collecting or checking in luggage at the airport, and while arranging car hire.
If your passport is lost or stolen, you’ll also need the report to apply for an emergency travel document from the nearest British Consulate and to apply for a replacement passport when you return to the UK.
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