Well, it has been 4 years now living in BCN and I have to say that in those years I have found that people here can be rude, the service is awful, restaurants need health inspectors to check out their establishments, (food poisoning 3 times) - food handling is "sickening" from what I have seen I am quite disgusted.
A waiter picked at a food that he was taking to a table with his fingers, a man grabbed bags of rubbish to throw outside and then served a person with his bear hands making a "shawarma"
The police not helpful and please people be careful they are not to be trusted. A friend on vacation was arrested. Drugs. He was carrying his heart tablet and other medication. Apparently we were at a restaurant and someone called the police, probably somebody saw him taking his medication. None of the police spoke English - what a NIGHT!
Barcelona is not as friendly as people make it out to be - this my personal opinion and it is sad for me to say this but there is so much they need to learn. The life style is excellent but try to communicate with them? It is not so easy. And to top it off, when he returned to his room, his door was opened and a few items were missing; video camera, camera, money and a few other things.
Don't have anything good to say at the moment regarding the people here. Other areas in Spain are much friendlier and helpful. Been to Madrid, North of Spain and the South, the people are wonderful.
Sorry for the whining but having lived in other countries/ cities, Barcelona is one of the nicest(geographical) but the worst when it comes to people.