Cash payment for flat rental?

That is standard practice. Sometimes they will take half on arrival and the balance the next day. Ask them for an alternate arrangement.

Every time this has happened to me I have contacted the owner/manager and told them that I would need a extra day or two to get all of their money out of the local ATMs. All of them have agreed to this, but, I have always made this arrangement before I finalized the rental agreement, just in case. I go to my main DEBIT card issuer (a credit union) and have them increase my daily withdrawal limit for the time I am in Europe so that I can almost always pay the rental money in two days. If this is actually contrary to what you find in RS guide book, you should also drop RS folks an e-mail.

Ask them if they will take a bank draft in euro. If so, open an account with XE Trade. Money will be taken from your checking account by electronic transfer and a bank draft will be made payable to the person or business of your choice. Instead of having the draft mailed to Barcelona, have it mailed to your home. Take it with you and hand it to the landlord when you arrive. The exchange rate is only slightly higher than the international rate on the day the transaction is initiated. There are no fees.

Or, you could send a wire transfer, if the payee will give you all the required information (name, address of the bank, IBAN number, BIC number, etc).

Just a note to others planning a trip. BCN flats was a very bad experience. We stayed in Safraig #8. The location is good if you want to walk to the beach, but the neighborhood is dangerous. The police were called twice for fights outside the apartment next door. Both times at about 1:30 AM. Furthermore, no one was available that speaks ANY english to help. Luckily I am an intermediate spanish speaker and could work things out. If you are not fairly fluent, this is the wrong place to be. There was air conditioning in the downstairs and master bedroom, but none in the kid's bedroom, so they had to roast. There are no staples in the kitchen, and although there was a washing machine, there was only a drying line large enough for about two t-shirts - so we had to pay and hang out at the laundrymat. Overall the condo was not nearly as nice as the pictures, it was pretty run down, the beds were ridiculously bad and the neighbors were very loud and scarred our family. Suggest this location is removed from Rick Steve's list immediately.

I've rented apartments probably a half dozen times in Europe, usually through VRBO, and this is how it's usually done. Once, the landlord allowed us to give him AmEx travellers checks, but all of the others needed straight cash upon arrival. I usually get the cash in Euros through my local bank, or the American Express office (whoever gives a better rate that week) and put it in a money belt.......that's just how it is. I wouldn't be getting large sums of money at night at an atm in any big city. One alternative you may want to ask, is would he take a "paypal" payment upon arrival, but I doubt it since it could take 24 hours to clear.

The problem with a bank transfer, is that you've paid up front........I want to see the place before I pay the entire balance.......I've really had pretty great experiences with VRBO, even one advertised as being in the Montmartre area of Paris, that turned out being more like Pigale (a little sleezy).......turned out being quite fun.