Actually you quite lucky if the landlord is only asking for 1 months rent. Because of the crisis and unemployment many landlords are demanding 6 months plus an Aval. (rent guarantee given by the bank). That is about the time it takes to kick out someone.

Just a note when reading I suggest not paying the last months rent in lue of the deposit for the simple reason once your gone the landlord has no incentive to return it,heard too many horror stories about tenants losing their deposits.

He´s actually asking for 2 months "fianza" , refundable when we leave . My friend tells me that legally they can only ask for 1 month rent as security ... but this is Spain . I´m still concerned that the owner ( in Paris ) is not going to be happy with the finances ( Even though I´m solvent ) . I really do NOT want to have to start showing my bank balances etc....

A landlord can ask for two months deposit if the apartment has furnishings.

Strange that Rob in Madrid finds landlords asking for more... I'm apartment hunting and found just the opposite to be true--the landlords seem completely desperate and almost none are requiring avals if you can prove that you can afford the place. The prices have dropped like crazy, too, eliminating most of the increases in the past five years. It's a very good time to be looking, especially for bigger places.

How frequently can the landlord raise the rent? Is there some limit or is a fixed rate usually written into the contract? I'd imagine so since a landlord may be tempted to raise the rent soon after getting a tenant moved in.

Saludos, MadridMan

Increases are very strictly regulated. Landlords can only raise the rent once a year and it cannot be more than the cost of living increase (IPC) for the month when your rental started. Some unscrupulous landlords try to write bigger, yearly fixed increases into the contracts, but these are illegal and a tenant is never obligated to pay any more than the ipc. You can calculate it here: http://www.ine.es/calcula/