ah, i guess it'd be more dirty down towards the club area. las ramblas is pretty busy, maybe the dirtiest area - but nowhere near as bad as 6th street here in austin. i stayed up near the passeig de gracia metro stop. pretty tame area.
it's very clean...at least in the morning. every night they wash the streets with hoses...(waste of water IMO)
We just got back from Barcelona last week. We were kind of touristy nerds and stuck to checking out the architecture by Gaudi. I would like to spend more time there. It is a beautiful city.