I am about to book an apartment for Barcelona. Is it typical of them to ask for your passport number and address? They alrready have my credit card info for the deposit. This is the company with the apartment:

http://www.apartmentsbcn.net/

Thanks!

How is that company related to http://www.vrbo.com/ (as your thread title indicate)?

These are the people that own or represent this apartment:

http://www.vrbo.com/79006

It is required in many European countries that landlords and hoteliers obtain passport numbers. I think in Spain it is only for the individual renting the apartment.

In Italy all travelers must surrender their passports overnight on arrival. Gives me visions of a functionary making the rounds each morning in his Fiat dutifully recording names and info that is deposited in a dented file cabinet, never to be seen again.

Apartmentsbcn owns several apartments and manages others, all in the Sagrada Familia area as far as I know. They have an office either in this building or nearby, which is a comfort.

It has become quite common to require a passport number to make many online bookings, including trains and buses. And yes, all hotels and by association apartments, are required by law to have your passport on file, and from what I know that means everyone staying at the hotel or apartment.

An American is not allowed to surrender his or her passport to anyone but the proper authorities, but hotels do scan copies for their records.

In order to make an official billing, they must have this information for tax purposes.
Everyone, including Spaniards, would be asked this. But Spaniards have a national ID number they would use.

Thanks for your replies!