Solo Trip Suggestions/Status of Barcelona?

Ignore that article. Tourists have been going to Barcelona for almost a century while it has been at "war" with Spain. Hemingway and Orwell wrote about it at length.

Barcelona is a fantastic city. Easy flight there (lots of directs from Miami, Philly, etc...), manageable city to get around, lots to see, probably the best food scene in Europe, beaches, mountains, etc...

Go.

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communicating

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Most folks under the age of 40 speak English in addition to Spanish & Catalan. Just brush up on some basic conversational phases, you'll be fine.

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getting around

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Taxi to/from the airport to wherever you are staying. Barcelona is very walk-able otherwise. My wife and I pretty much walked from our hotel (Corner Hotel) to every bar/restaurant and point of interest aside from Camp Nou and a vineyard trip outside the city.

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good food/bars

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Piscolabis (Las Ramblas)
Cerveceria Catalana (just off Las Ramblas on Mallorca)...crowded pretty much all day so be prepared to wait
Cellarer(on Mallorca) is a good wine bar with really good food, the two Argentinian guys who own it are fantastic humans
Literally ANYTHING at La Boqueria
Quimet & Quimet (great place but standing room only and wasn't really near anything we did, took a special trip here)

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interesting sight-seeing/culture

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Aside from Gaudi & Picasso

Cava country, short drive from Barcelona-we hired a driver and hit Cava Llopart...the scenery was incredible (their vineyard overlooks the town of Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, Montserrat, and on clear day-you can see the Pyrenees mountains).

re food and places to drink, I have a pretty comprehensive and relatively up to date food map of Barcelona. Sn at gmail and I will send it over.

The Cava area very easy to reach by train direct from Barcelona. Dont need a driver. Just take the red line (IIRC) to Sant Sadurní d'Anoia. IF you have an in with a restaurant or bar that pours Juve Y Camps, see if you can snag an invite to that place.

I spent a week in Barcelona in April 2016 and loved it. We walked the streets until the early morning hours and felt very safe. The people were extremely friendly and most spoke English. They do consider themselves Catalonians rather than Spanish. I remember being scolded in a friendly way for trying to order a Spanish wine not from Catalonia. We switched to the Catalonian wine and it was fantastic. As far as the current protests go, most of the protesters I have seen are standing around in business suits waiving flags. This is not the Middle East. I would go back tomorrow if I could. We stayed at the K&K Picasso Hotel in the El Born neighborhood and thought it was great. There are many great restaurants within walking distance and there is a Ho-Ho bus stop right outside the door. For a solo traveler, I would recommend eating at the tapas bar at Tapeo. This is a fun and lively tapas bar with gourmet level food. If you want a big blow out gourmet dinner, check out Tast Ller. This is a tiny place with only about 5 or 6 tables and a set degustation menu. The food is outstanding.