8 days in Barcelona

Perhaps you should have studied Spanish in order to integrate into society instead of expecting everyone to adapt to your culture/language?

Sorry, it's probably not what you wanted to hear but it's fact. I have been learning Spanish on and off for the last 4 years as I plan to one day live there. I think it's respectful to at least make that effort.

I see you are living in Sant Cugat. Its different when you go to a town outside of Barcelona of course. In Bcn you will be able to talk english more, Sant Cugat not too much (I live in the neighboring town and its the same here)

Oh, my Spanish is good. It's the Catalan that gets on my nerves. After all, when I was hired for my job, the idea was that I was coming to Spain...

Apologies for my assumption

More than one language spoken in Spain; but many businesses/people do understand Spanish.  English, not so much.  That's part of the "charm" of international life.

That's part of the "charm" of international life. ??

Sorry Blue Moon charming as it may be it's certainly not international, but rather charming third worldly

I really liked Barcelona and wider Catalonia, and spent several years in Andorra. We would often come down to Barcelona as we liked it so much. I spoke Spanish and French in Andorra, but I always found Catalan sounded very hard/aggressive, so I know exactly what you mean. You do get used to it eventually, and the language is sort of a Spanish/French mix so there is a family resemblance. But, even so, I found it easier to read it than listen to it. :-) Luckily, most everyone speaks Spanish too.