You must go to a tapas bar. Great food, very social.
And if you find a sober moment (perhaps before drinking for the day), go to the Picasso Museum. It’s amazing.
Not true. First of all, a nitpick: Catalonians are those born in Catalonia, which is a region some 50.000 km2 in area, the capital of which is Barcelona, and which is really varied in landscape and type of people.
Second, I am from Castille (born in Albacete) but lived for 5 years in Barcelona when I was studying there. In my experience, the people who do what you say are a very small minority. What I saw was that people would interact with you in whatever language you first interacted with them, and that is the language you would keep talking to them afterwards.
I have friends there who are 100% catalan, descended from catalonians for deity knows how long, who speak Catalan with everybody, and who speak Spanish with me because we were introduced to each other in Spanish. Conversely, I have other friends who are 2nd generation immigrants from Andalusia with whom I speak in Catalan because that is what we first talked to each other in, even though they are the first people in their family to be born in Barcelona.
I am a Castilian Spaniard and I don’t think that Catalonians are big fat jerks and/or snobs. My experience, if anything, was the opposite.
To the O.P.: Xylo, send me a PM and I will try to give you some personalised advice about things to do and see while you are in Barcelona. Incidentally, I will be in Barcelona myself in mid-July (I have to attend a congress in the area along with some coworkers of mine; bunch of guys from the European Patent Office are going together). I see that the Sonar festival is in mid-June, so we won’t get to meet. Pity! I could have shown you places in person. Some other time!
Yeah, a few friends of mine have had some pretty bad experiences there with this. I plan to get a chain for my wallet and leave my cards at the apartment when I go out.
I like this idea very, very much.
So how varied are Catalan and Castilian? I was under the impression they were both variations or dialects of Spanish, but I’m seeing that Castilian is referred to as Spanish and Catalan isn’t.
Me and my friends were set upon by a mugger on crutches outside Barcelona train station*.
Protip for crippled muggers — crutches are no match against tent poles wielded by pissed-off Brit’s.
- At least, we thought he was a mugger. He might well have been trying to direct us to a hostel. Those damn language barriers are a pita.
I hear the ladies are insane there.
I wonder if the mugger was injured on the job. Maybe he can claim worker’s comp. 
Pick up some boots while you’re there.
Nava can answer this better, but the best way of describing Catalan is that it’s about 2/3rds (Castilian) Spanish and 1/3rd French. I think it’s far too variant from Spanish to call it a dialect–it’s a language of its own, with not just a different vocabulary but a different grammar as well.
They are different languages. They evolved separately from Latin.
The linguistic distance between Castilian and Catalan would be comparable to that between, say, Dutch and German.
I had 2 friends go to Spain independently last month and both were robbed. In one case it was a debit card taken from a bag at a hostel and the other was a distract and grab (Oh, can I use your phone —sob story— meanwhile accomplice takes bag and runs) which netted passports, cash, and plane tickets among other things.
I was in Barcelona for a month, and heard from other travellers many similar stories, but even though I was by myself, drinking copiously the entire time and staying out late each night in highly tourist-y areas, I never had a whiff of trouble…
I guess it’s luck of the draw, and possibly by dressing very casually (maybe they figured I had nothing worth stealing, as I didn’t carry a camera or map, or look too much like a typical tourist) I didn’t stand out as a potential target.
This was also in early March. so possibly the summertime is worse for petty crime…
Regarding the situation with pickpockets: Indeed it can be a problem, especially in certain areas of the city (I am thinking right now of the Ramblas) and particularly in Summer, when there is a huge crowd of tourists. Keep your attention up in the public transport (especially the metro, and especially during rush hour).
It has to be said, however, that the police are aware of the situation, and during summer they do put extra people on the streets to deter petty crime.
Some common-sense precautions will help, of course:
(1) Always, ALWAYS keep your valuables in separate pockets/places, so that, no matter what, you will never be completely “cleaned”.
(2) If your accomodation has safes available, use them.
(3) Be aware of the classic “distraction” ploy.
(4) Blend in. Try, as much as possible, not to look obviously “touristy”. This is particularly helpful.
(5) Do not flaunt or ostensibly show money and valuables.
(6) Keep a copy of all of your I.D. papers in a safe place in your accomodation.
I am sorry that, for some of you, theft soured your experience of my country. You have my sympathies!