New Alcazar requirements for entry(?)

[mduffy1834]

Received the following from Spain Day Tours regarding our upcoming tour from Cadiz to Seville:  "I'm writing to you today to let you know that the Alcazar management in Seville has decided to implement a completely new system for issuing tickets to the Palace. The Alcazar management is now requesting that bookings be placed in a new portal and it is mandatory to have the full name, date of birth, passport number and issuing country for each visitor.  Entry to the Palace will not be possible if the full name, date of birth, issuing country and passport number of each visitor is not provided in advance."

 

Can't seem to find anything on the Alcazar site about this.  Maybe it only applies to tour operators and getting advanced tickets?

 

Anyone familiar with this?  A bit apprehensive about sending all my passport information - will bring my passport if necessary.

 

Thanks for any insights

[hkto]

Asking for passport info is used to verify the identity of ticket holder by matching it to ticket. This is the practice used by Alhambra for online tickets, may be Alcazar decided to do same. So I wouldn't worry about it that much. But asking for passport in Alhambra was random and infrequent. I don't carry it just have photo on the phone

[MeHeartCruising]

I did find that when I pretended to buy an entrance ticket on the official https://www.alcazarsevilla.org website, that it asked me to enter my full name and ID/Passport number.  But it did not ask for my date of birth or issuing country.  Using Passport information is very common in European travel.  I would provide the information to a reputable tour company without hesitation. 

[VMax1700]

Bear in mind that Spain is one of the European countries where it is mandatory to have identification on your person.  A photo of a passport is 'technically' not sufficient.

[hkto]

Having to carry original passport is a Spanish legal requirement however I'd rather risk paying a fine then losing it or have it stolen. Consequences of stolen passports are: cost of replacement (this is for just getting 1 entry doc and then payment for passport again), need to travel to Madrid or Barcelona if not already there, chance of paying for return ticket again (if loss happened close to departure) and potential hassle on the border for many years due to lost passport. For the record I never was asked to show passport but this is just my experience.

Edited March 5, 2020 by hkto

[Despegue]

In Spain, like in many EU areas, all persons needs to be able to prove identity when in public.

In the EU, this is normally done by showing our Identity Card, which all of us are carrying in our wallet.

Tourists are NOT expected to carry their travel passport with them, a good colour copy, either on paper or as a scan on your smartphone will do in reality. If there is a serious problem, the authorities will ask you to get your passport from your hotel/ship.

 

Do bear in mind though that some port authorities require you to show your actual Identity documents.Your ID cards for EU citizens ( this is  credit card size and very handy), for those without such card, the International Passport.