Apartment Rental in Barcelona

I know you mentioned not wanting to use Airbnb, but that's how I found my month-long apartment in Barcelona. It was exactly as described, very cheap, and the owner was great and always eager to answer any questions or help with any problems I had.

You should be aware that Barcelona appears to be trying to eliminate unofficial rental of accommodations. There was an English-language brochure displayed at the tourist office in August with a title something like, "Be sure your lodgings in Barcelona are legal."

I found Venamicasa.com for rental as homestay. With a family. Including meals. Photos and locations look good. You can review it. Your opinion appreciated.
Need verification from forum of anyone who has used that service. Thanks.

A month is not a long term rental thus many of the regular channels for renting apartments won't work for you (ie. Fotocasa, Habitaclia, Idealista, TuCasa, etc). I'm afraid you'll need to go thru AirBnb, Homeaway etc

Also, for background: https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/19/airbnb-faces-fresh-crackdown-in-barcelona-as-city-council-asks-residents-to-report-illegal-rentals/

Nice list from Enric of apartment rental agencies. I just got email for my short stay in Barcelona asking for deposit by bank transfer for Venamicasa.com. They listed their VAT number so that I could check that the service was legal at the link of the Spanish tax agency. I don't know whether that is how do you check for scams or not if anyone on this forum knows that I would appreciate that information .

It's not so much about being a scam but about offering apartments which are contravening the local law -which requires tourist apartments to be registered in a special Registry, which in turn offers a degree of protection to the people renting in case of a dispute, and also ensures the owner is paying the due taxes.

I used an Airbnb apartment for a week in April and had a wonderful host. Airbnb verified the location, host and references and guaranteed the funds. What's not to like?

i had a rooftop terrace with a view of Sagrada Familia as well as a bargain price, a neighborhood pub/sidewalk cafe,a grocery store, and a 2 block walk to a major bus route.