[capableweb]

Based on a couple of occasions I've been in Barcelona and around Catalunya, people always answered me in Spanish (both in tourist and non-tourist locations) when I was in Barcelona and surrounding areas, while when I visited Lleida and Vic (and surrounding areas), they always answered me in Catalan (and one time even got visibly angry when I couldn't reply to them in Catalan, only in Spanish).

So my anecdote would be that generally Barcelona seems to be fine with Spanish (and walking around the city I heard a lot more Spanish than both English and Catalan) while areas up north/west seems to almost require you to speak in Catalan.

[GekkePrutser]

Makes sense too as Barcelona is aan international city and has many immigrants from Latin America. And many people from other parts of Spain live here too.

In the rural area that's much less except for the migrant farm workers