Landlord/Tenant Issues - need help

Hi everyone,

My first post and I apologize in advance that it's a negative one.

I rented an apartment that I found through a certain website. I rented directly from the owner.

Me and my partner pay 750 euro per month for a large basement apt in El Raval (Calle Sant Climent). When we first viewed we were happy with the apartment because it was bright and big but that was in September when the sun was beaming directly down on the back yard (painted white). I noticed that most of the furniture and fittings were missing from the photos shown on the website but we were desperate so we took it for 6 months.

The landlady demanded 2 month's rent in advance and 2 month's rent as a deposit because neither one of us could give her job contracts (I do some tutoring but it's not fixed and he does 'alternative' work) but I'm independently able to pay all six months' costs.

Anyhow, once we moved in we quickly realized that we had been shafted. The noise from the street is unbearable (I've lived in Birmingham, San Diego, San Francisco, Dublin and Munich so I knew there would be some noise but this is excessive and he's from Santa Cruz (Bolivia) and has lived in BCN three years and he agrees that the noise is exceptionally bad).

The problem is, the landlady stripped all the curtains, carpets and most of the furniture from the apartment. She gave us nothing - no cutlery, crockery, pots & pans, kitchen utensils, no fittings for curtains, no shower fittings - nothing. She left a broken bed and a filthy sofa for us to use along with a dirty fridge and cooker, a smelly dishwasher and a very old washing machine. We didn't see the 'real' apartment until after we moved in.

Now we have cockroaches, a rodent problem (they're eating through the walls), the apartment is basically a large echo chamber that doubles as a walk-in refrigerator.

Needless to say, I'm not happy - at 750 per month I expect more.

So we asked her to provide some curtains to divide the apartment (it's basically open-plan) and to provide some noise and heat insulation. She agreed at first but is now demanding that we contribute. I told her I wanted the rodent problem dealt with using traps not poison (I didn't want dead rodents inside my walls) and she gave us poison (while I was away I might add because she knows my partner is easier to manipulate).

I've written her two emails today to tell her I'm not happy but she has escalated the situation by using terms like 'supposed rat problem' (we have video evidence) and is now demanding our job contracts after making us pay double deposit and double rent in advance.

So what are our rights (if any)?

I've researched about the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos but that seems to only apply to rentals for one year or more.

Anyone? Any help would be appreciated.

Gracias,

Noel.