It's one of the nicest cities in Europe but the Spanish economy is still so far down that many Spanish people with marketable skills are to be found all over Europe.
Last I checked Barcelona was still in Spain. If they object I'm fine with it but I'm not going to 'tune' my comments to whether or not someone may or may not be offended when for the rest of the world 'Catalonia' is solidly part of Spain.
Frisians are Dutch too, and Welsh are British and so on.
Most people in Barcelona are not "pro-independence". Most "pro-independence" people come from rural areas, or small cities. Industrial and touristic areas of Catalan region of Spain are not nationalists/separatists. That sentiment comes much like in other regions, because of the crisis. P.S. I live in Barcelona.
Slightly different personal data point from my guiri perspective living in Barcelona I'd say that of the 12-15 Catalans that I know well the clear majority are pro independence.
You "forget" that the "80%" was on an unofficial and illegal (currently on Court) poll/"referendum" with massive abstention, because supported mostly by Catalan nationalist parties, and not by constitutionalists (the ones supporting the Rule of Law). Real pro-independency support in Catalan regions is about 35-45%, being much less in industrial and touristic areas (you can find official statistics about the subject -INE and CEO-).
In my opinion, nationalist agitprop in Catalonia, more than reaching the independence from Spain, it will "break" Catalan region psychologically in two, because of the polarization, much like it happens in North Ireland or Belgium. I hope it doesn't happen in Barcelona, as it is a nice place to live and invest, with really nice and open minded people.
That's pretty much my experience. I spent a few weeks every year in Barcelona for the last 3 years or so, super nice people and a very nice city (especially the architecture and the amazing blend of city and sea).
