Special Post- Cuenca, the world's best place to retire

This is a special post since it doesn't talk about any expression or activity to learn English.
I'll tell you a little bit about a place, which has been labeled as the World's Best Place to Retire, Cuenca.
Then I'll raise some questions about learning a foreign language.

Cuenca is located in Ecuador and is the capital of the province Azuay, it is approximately 9 hours south of Quito.
The weather is pretty much the same all year-round. The average daily temperature is 58 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degree celsius) and there are only 2 seasons: rainy and dry. The heaviest rains come in March, April and May.

But why am I talking about this place? Well, first of all I heard of this place from a friend of my mom's. She lives in the United States and like many Americans she would like to live there when she retires. So, I got curious and decided to discover what is so appeling about this town.

An american retiree said this in a NYTimes article:
“The weather is nice. The cost of living is very low. Public transportation is very good,” said Mr. Evans, who lives in an apartment south of the city center. “I really love to walk and don’t need a car.”       

Another feature described in the same article is that in Cuenca you can find a large number of English-speaking doctors and English language bookstores.
(here is the link to this article)

After that I read another article sent by my mom's friend called "What Cuencanos say about gringos: they enrich the local culture, bring more business but need to learn Spanish".
One opinion caught my attention:
"When I lived in New Jersey, the locals would tell the Hispanic people that they needed to learn English if we wanted to live in the U.S. I agreed and learned their language. It seems that many of the gringos who live in Cuenca do not agree and do not make much effort to learn Spanish.” –Moises C.
(the second article)

This got me thinking about the fact that English is such an international language that the people who are native speakers of that language don't bother learning others. Of course, this is a generalization!
So, my questions is: if you move to another country shouldn't you learn their language?
I believe that when you are in another country and you don't speak the langauge, you lose many opportunities of really getting to know people and understanding their culture.

Get ready to fully enjoy the culture, maybe meet the love of your life or become the next best selling writer in Spanish. How about that? If you are planning to live in Cuenca or any other place, LEARN their language.
You don't even have to leave your home to do that. You can learn Spanish through Skype. I don't teach it (I speak it though because I live in Argentina, but I'm brazilian) , but on my website you can choose the best teachers for you. Skype Classes Luisa

Also here I leave 2 websites where you can get more information about Cuenca and also a link to a promotional video of the city:
http://www.gringosabroad.com
http://www.gringotree.com/cuenca/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=vwj6nzdBclw&feature=endscreen