[pmelendez]

> "I've traveled quite a bit, including to Barcelona. If you speak English (and this person clearly does) then "don't speak the language" is not an issue there."

I don't know which part of Barcelona have you been but that's just limited (just to do not say untrue). My brother-in-law lives there, and even he (who is native spanish speaker and also speaks English and Catalan) recognize that most locals don't speak English.

> "or indeed almost anywhere"

I know so many places where that is untrue, I would be more cautious if I were you.

> "Open up a maps app and find out where you are. Can't talk to people? Google Translate to the rescue."

You are assuming too many things. Like you have a roaming data plan or even that your carrier have a way to provide you roaming in the place.

> Can't talk to people? Google Translate to the rescue.

Then you are trusting in the interlocutor. You won't be able to tell if they are lying or not.

[mikeash]

You don't need most locals to speak English, just a few will do. For tourism-oriented sectors like hotels, English proficiency is not typically hard to find.

I'm not assuming you have a data plan so much as I am saying that you should have one, so that you can handle eventualities such as this. Failing to plan is planning to fail, as they say. Never assume all of your arrangements will work out exactly as they're supposed to. Always have a backup plan, even if it's nothing more specific than "use my smartphone to figure it out."

If you show up in a foreign country with no way to communicate with anybody and no way to make contingency plans then you're making it likely you'll have a bad experience. Don't do that.