Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuando cambio la configuración, bloqueo a las personas que me faltan al respeto. - When I change the settings, I block the people who disrespect me.

With cuando + indicative, you talk about:
- habits / general truths:
  - Cuando cambio la configuración, bloqueo… = Whenever I change the settings, I block…
- or past events:
  - Cuando cambiaba la configuración, siempre bloqueaba…
With cuando + subjunctive, you talk about something that has not happened yet (usually future or a command):
- Cuando cambie la configuración, bloquearé a las personas…
  = When I (eventually) change the settings, I’ll block the people…

In your sentence, the speaker is describing what they usually do, so cambio (present indicative) is correct.

Could we say Cuando cambie la configuración, bloquearé a las personas…? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s also correct, but the meaning changes slightly.

Cuando cambio la configuración, bloqueo a las personas…
= This is my usual rule / habit.
Cuando cambie la configuración, bloquearé a las personas…
= I am talking about a future situation that hasn’t happened yet.
(The moment in which I change the settings is in the future, and then I will block people.)

So:

Habit / routine → cuando + indicative
Specific future event → cuando + subjunctive (and usually a future tense in the main clause)

Why is there no yo in the sentence? Shouldn’t it be Cuando yo cambio…?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él…) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

cambio can only be yo (I change)
cambias can only be tú (you change)
cambia can be él / ella / usted

So Cuando cambio la configuración… is naturally understood as “When I change the settings…”.

You only add yo if you want to:

emphasize or contrast:
- Cuando yo cambio la configuración, bloqueo a la gente; otros no lo hacen.
or avoid ambiguity, when several people are being talked about.

Most of the time, leaving out yo is more natural.

Why is it la configuración and not just configuración or mi configuración?

A few points:

Spanish uses the definite article more than English.
When you say la configuración, you usually mean “the settings” of some known system/app/thing, even if in English you might say just “change settings.”
configuración without article would sound incomplete in normal speech:
- ✗ Cuando cambio configuración… sounds like a shortened menu label, not like natural conversation.
mi configuración is possible, but a bit different:
- Cuando cambio mi configuración… emphasizes “my personal settings”, for example contrasted with someone else’s or default settings.

In most everyday contexts, la configuración is the default and sounds completely natural.

Why do we need the a in bloqueo a las personas? Why not just bloqueo las personas?

Because of the personal “a”.

In Spanish, when a direct object refers to a person or people, you normally put a before it:

Veo a María. = I see María.
Ayudo a mis amigos. = I help my friends.
Bloqueo a las personas. = I block people.

Without a, bloqueo las personas sounds wrong or, at best, very strange in standard Spanish.

Even though las personas is not a specific named individual, it still refers to people, so the personal “a” is used.

Could we say bloqueo a la gente instead of bloqueo a las personas?

Yes, both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

las personas = more neutral or slightly more formal; sounds like you’re talking about individuals.
la gente = more colloquial, a collective word (“people” as a mass).

With the relative clause, you’d normally say:

bloqueo a las personas que me faltan al respeto
bloqueo a la gente que me falta al respeto

Both are correct. The first sounds a bit more “careful” or neutral; the second more informal and conversational.

Why is it personas que me faltan al respeto (plural faltan) and not persona que me falta al respeto?

It’s simply agreement between subject and verb.

las personas → plural subject
- las personas que me faltan al respeto
- Here, que refers back to las personas, so the verb is plural: faltan.
la persona → singular subject
- la persona que me falta al respeto
- Now que refers to a single person, so the verb is singular: falta.

So the form of faltar (falta / faltan) is determined by whether you say la persona or las personas.

What does me faltan al respeto literally mean, and how does this expression work?

Literally, faltar means “to be lacking / to be missing.”
respeto = respect.

The idiom faltar al respeto a alguien basically means:

to fail to show respect to someone → to be disrespectful / to be rude / to insult.

Structure:

faltar al respeto a alguien
subject = the person who is being rude
a alguien = the person receiving the disrespect, usually with an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les).

Examples:

Juan me falta al respeto.
= Juan disrespects me / is rude to me.
No le faltes al respeto a tu madre.
= Don’t be disrespectful to your mother.

In your sentence:

las personas que me faltan al respeto
= the people who are disrespectful to me / who don’t show respect to me.

What exactly is al in al respeto? Why not el respeto?

al is the contraction of a + el:

a + el = al

The idiom normally appears as:

faltar al respeto (a alguien)

So in me faltan al respeto, you literally have:

faltar (verb)
al respeto = to the respect (fixed expression)
me (indirect object: to me)

There are actually two accepted patterns:

faltar al respeto a alguien
- No me faltes al respeto.
faltar el respeto a alguien
- No me faltes el respeto.

Both are correct and mean the same. Your sentence uses the al respeto variant, which is very common in Spain.

Why is me placed before faltan in que me faltan al respeto?

Because that’s the normal placement for object pronouns in Spanish.

Rules (simplified):

With a conjugated verb, pronouns go before the verb:
- me faltan, te ayudan, le hablo, etc.
With an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative command, they usually go after, attached to the verb:
- van a faltarme al respeto (infinitive)
- están faltándome al respeto (gerund)
- No me faltes al respeto (negative command → pronoun before)
- Fáltame al respeto (affirmative command → pronoun after, attached)

So in your sentence, faltan is a normal, conjugated verb (3rd person plural), so the pronoun me appears before: me faltan al respeto.

Can we replace me faltan al respeto with me insultan or me irrespetan? Is it the same?

me insultan = they insult me.
This is stronger and more specific: verbal or explicit offensive language.
me faltan al respeto = they are disrespectful to me / they don’t show me respect.
This is broader: it can include insults, but also rude behavior, ignoring you, speaking badly to you, etc.

As for me irrespetan:

The verb irrespetar exists but is rare and sounds strange or very marked in most varieties, especially in Spain.
A Spaniard would not normally say me irrespetan.
They would say:
- me faltan al respeto
- no me respetan
- son maleducados conmigo, etc.

So, the most natural and idiomatic choice in Spain for this idea is exactly what you have: me faltan al respeto.