I too have never heard of this before. A few weeks ago my son and his girlfriend arrived from his home in Thailand at Barcelona. All he had to do was show his passport. Then after a short road trip he, alone, flew to Bordeaux in order to get to stay with me here. Nothing there either, the airport staff showed him the exit door at 2 in the morning, and locked it behind him (wildfires), again, only a passport.
My advice to you @sasha is print off this thread and transmit it straight away to your sister. If all these experiences won’t convince her nothing will. Best of luck.
Just as an update, the Marie finally remembered the appointment so opened the office and signed and stamped it. A bit late though as it was too late to get anything to the UK due to the bank holiday so will just scan it and send it to my sister and take the original with us to collect her, just in case and probably just send her the attestation sur l’honneur to print off which has seemed to calm her down. As plod says, it does seem just like a way to get €30 from people, although Gov.co.uk do make a big thing out of it too saying it’s necessary. Thank you to you all for your help on this much appreciated.
Obviously, if anything doesn’t go smoothly I’ll let you know.
I imagine quite a few of us remember when one had to hand over our passports at French hotels and BnBs, a post war requirement born of suspicion. A practice I hated as never like being separated from my passport. Thankfully it fell out of favour and now although a law is still in place the most you can be asked is to show it on arrival. They are not allowed to keep it.
But when all the schengen treaties were finally completed an attestation d’hébergement for non-europeans staying in private rooms was tacked on for a number of reasons, mainly to control overstaying, but purportedly also to control insanitary lodgings. And of course with Brexit it suddenly also applied to British people which caused the usual hysteria.
The attestation also is not commonly used but every now and then, usually when the threat level for terrorism is raised, there are reminders. Doesn’t look good if the government doesn’t know where terrorists are staying.
That was standard practice across Western and Central Europe before the EU became a thing and photocopiers became affordable for small hotels and B&Bs.
I certainly remember late 1970s/early 1980s European package holidays (Pontinental anyone?) where checking into the accommodation meant surrendering your passports.
The cheaper photo copier made the requirement of handing up passports redundant . What you might have forgotten is that everyday the local police would visit each hotel or campsite and check the register .and the photographs .. You might possibly remember it was an important plot device in the original…and best “DaY of the Jackel”
