Moontells Paseo de Ruzafa in Valencia wants scanned passports for contactless registration

In Spain this is very typical issue for foreigners, we locals have a DNI identification card which we use a lot, especially for checking into hotels and lodgings. I'm not sure where you're from but if you're from the US I don't think you have an analog to the DNI, so the closest thing is your passport. This is totally normal by the way. If you want you can ask to hand over your passports to the checkin desk when you arrive to the hotel.

Thanks, I am from US. I am not sure what the equivalent dic would be. I will look it up.
The main issue is that there will be no one at the registration. It is all done online

For decades, in Europe, foreign guests at hotels need to present their official ID (passport, national ID card...) when checking in. Some data in your passport -name, nationality, address...- is to be presented to the Police.

With the emergence of new methods for online check-ins in the tourism industry and the evolution of reception areas without personnel, and in the absence of an internationally recognized mechanism for verifying personal identity online, the common - though somewhat basic - method remains to send a "photocopy" (i.e., photo or scan) of one's identification document. This practice undeniably carries risks of identity theft, making it crucial to implement measures to prevent such risks.

As a precaution, if you must email a personal ID scanned document, there are three fundamental, very basic, security steps you ought to be doing, at the very least:

• Make the images black and white
• Insert a visible watermark over each image (f.e. "For the purpose of verifying ID at Hotel XXXX")
• Blur any information (f.e. security codes, irrelevant data...) that is not absolutely required for the purpose at hand.

These basic steps make it less likely your documents can be misused.

Thank you for the information contained in your reply. We will try the suggestions you gave