There are new regs in place governing summer house rentals. As far as I can tell:-

1. You need a Cedula
2. You need an Energy Performance Certificate
3. You need a licence from the adjuntament
4. You need to check you get registered on Gencat with your house details, email & phone and max occupancy.
5. You need to register the names, pasports etc of everyone staying in your place on the Gencat site.
6. You need to collect the tourist tax (45c per person per night)
7. You need to pay your income taxes on all receipts.

Here are some interesting links:-
Spreadsheets of registered properties,
http://www20.gencat.cat/portal/site/empresaiocupacio/menuitem.32aac87fcae8e050a6740d63b0c0e1a0/?vgnextoid=658d7e7951d10310VgnVCM2000009b0c1e0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=658d7e7951d10310VgnVCM2000009b0c1e0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Tourist Tax,
http://www20.gencat.cat/docs/empresaiocupacio/20%20-%20Turisme/Documents/Arxius/dipticimpostCAST.pdf

Background,
http://www.spain-holiday.com/rentalbuzz/holiday-rental-licences-in-catalonia

I suspect that, if the authorities chase this then the number of rented properties will collapse and the local economy with it.

Welcome to the land of the clueless.Having said that most of those rules have been in force anyway and as usual nobody has a clue or gives a sh*t.

another load of nonsense to completely ignore !,
the local area gets enough from the people coming here and spending their money already,
the country would have had millions more going into the economy if the authorities hadnt been so stupid a few years ago and scaring everybody off !
muppets the lot of them !

maybe somebody should get in touch with a representitive of a local political party to explain as nice as possible how much better it could be without all these little rules as you say tourists bring money in. try to bring them in.Is that maybe an idea

Do you think that would really work.You're fighting blinkered bureaucracy,it's the way it's always been,it's the way it is and it's the way it will be.If they could come up with an easy and fair way and actually implement it then maybe.
We estimated several years ago that each tourist pumps aprox.£700 into the local economy,that's a lot of fresh income.They should encourage more not strangle what they little they have.

i dont suppose that they that should be obeyed actually read this forum ,i shouldnt imagine so !
in the years that i have been coming over ,1989 onwards ,all i have seen is a country going backwards further each time i visit, i dont suppose they will learn the error of their ways now,
its a shame,as i have said before they dont realise what they have,nice weather, great food,fantastic scenery,everything a visitor wants,
they should spend a long dark miserable winter in scotland then maybe they would realise and appreciate what they have !
i think the spanish authorities have a very short sighted view on saving their country from ruin ,which im sure will happen eventually if they dont do something about it now .

all I readis very negative remarks that is why I ask has anybody ever asked if there are other possibilities.
complaining is o.k. if you have first tried to find a better solution.normally it helps to talk to people and explain otherways to do things. who will try

Would you like to become a spokesperson, negotiator,
for the residents here?
Apply within.

When it first reared its ugly head several years ago quite a few people started flapping.The amount of properties for holiday rent in the Tortosa fell from 14 to 7 practically overnight (almost equalling the amount of properties on the same website for the whole of Aragon......)It has been looked into and for the most it is a load of scaremongering and the relevant town councils did their usual Catalan shrug, granted it was several years ago so please do not take what I say as gospel....as if anyone would. Check for yourselves if ness.

reply to do I want to become spokesperson .
no I do not  I do not let my house or anybody elses
have nothing to do with all the problems  people talk about
all I want to say is when one has so many problems talk to people who can do something about it. not to people who have the same problems unless you intend to get together and do something about it

Hivi
They are trying to do something,Taxing everything possible !!!!
here we go  ;) I think they have been getting some coaching from that friend of mine, Mr O Leary.

Not just taxing everything possible.
45c per person per night - hardly worth the cost of collecting it.
Oh wait - it keeps people in jobs and off the paro

I wonder whether in fact they are more interested in the fines they can generate, rather than the 45c - far more lucrative.

You have to remember that most European countries now have 'tourist tax' France,Italy and Holland ranging from a few cents up to €5.00 per person so it's nothing new.