That's cool. I hope you enjoy your time on this side of the pond. It's been a little bit on the hot side.
Yeah, the Spanish people won't put much effort on trying to speak other languages or even make it easier for foreign people, specially for their Portuguese neighbors. On the other hand, if you come to Portugal, most people will go above and beyond to help you out as they try to speak as much English as they can. Even the older people that don't speak much English at all, they figure out a way to communicate with you, either with gestures or by calling family members who can speak English.
We get to learn English as part of our education, because, let's face it, English is pretty much everywhere. In school, we basically learn Portuguese and English pretty much as standard and get to choose between Spanish and French as third language, although they may offer more options now. Of course a big part comes from watching movies, listen to music, etc.