My passport was stolen in Spain in Vallencia nearly 10 years ago. The vehicle was broken into and my bag was snatched (long story). A local shop owner nearby heard the smashing glass and came running out. Luckily, it was a tourist sword shop and the guy came out wielding a large don quixote sword! He later told us what had happened and that it was a group of morrocans who had done it.

Now I just know there is another ME walking around somewhere in the EU now!

Leche

I like the story with the guy and the sword. It is nice to know that in Spain we still have knights

Nuria - who said Don Quixote was 'make-believe'? Obviously he is alive and well in Barcelona - or was when this incident took place ... one of those "had to be seem to be believed" situations ....

It seems to me that I have always been asked to turn over a passport, and usually it will be either filled out on the spot as I wait in the lobby, or they will show me my room, copy the passport info down, then return it to me within a couple of minutes. I never remember being asked to leave it for the duration of my stay. How could travellers checks be exchanged if a hotel was holding the passport?

Do not leave your passports with any business or hotel or hostel, they just need to see it and get the number.

The 3-weeks that I was travelling in the Southern part of Spain, some hostals owner asked for passport. I usually had a photocopy to show them and all the hostal owners who asked for it accepted a photocopy and later returned the photocopy to me.

Regarding the passport question. The hotel will ask for the pasport upon entry. At all the places i have stayed in Madrid, Barcelona and Mallorca they have it back to me within a few minutes. The hotel should not hold on to it for more than thirty minutes(long enough for you to get settled with your room).

[originally posted by Cocuyo on 10-24-2001 12:10 AM...]

Hello everyone! I have to say that in my trip to Madrid last year, I stayed at Hostal Aliste,the owner asked me for my passport for ID purpose only and he returned it to me when he verified my identity

[ 10-24-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I have stayed in hotels and self-catering accommodation all over Spain. Everyone has asked for passports and usually keep them for 2 days, they say this is for police registration. At the timeshare complex we use, we are required to fill in a form giving details of our passport number, date of birth, country of birth and our arrival date and leaving date. This form is sent to the local police station to register us as a visitor to the area. To me this makes sense in case we run into any problems or have the misfortune to be involved in an accident. Regarding MM's comment about Hostal Dulcinea, we were asked to leave our passport with them, but it was returned a few days later.