barcelona v madrid

I am going to madrid on december 10 for 3 days yeeeees!.I have been to Barcelona three times and i love it.Can someone please give their reviews on both i.e which is best why?.Obviously i will be able to make my own mind up soon but to me Barcelona will take some beating

This is a tough one. after living in madrid for two months and barcelona for 1 month and sevilla for 8 months, I thought that I would be able to decide. I always loved barcelona more. But this is a tough one now. All three are so different. Sevilla has that traditional feel. Barcelona is more artsy and more fashionable. Madrid, well what can I say, It is probably the most diverse city of the three. I fell in love with madrid, especially salamanca, serrano and other parts. The main st by the main st castellana.

A friend of mine at work just got back from spain few weeks ago,visited Barcelona and Madrid. He was saying both cities are beautiful and yes, very different from each other. For him,he prefers Barcelona 'coz according to him, the people are very cultured.

I have been to alot of cites in Spain. If you like the fast moving pace. You yould enjoy Madrid, Barcelona & Malaga. I loved them all but not the same as Southeren Spain (Andalucia). If you have never been to Cadiz, San Fernando, Puerto Santa Maria, Conil, Chiclana, Jerez or Puerto Real. this is the Spain I fell in love with.

Barcelona: more beautiful, more to see, better weather.

Madrid: better marcha, friendlier people.

I usually tell people I'd prefer Barcelona for tourism but Madrid to live in.

Were it not for the fact that the majority of our relatives in Spain are in or near Madrid, I woud say: Barcelona. Maybe it's just that I think most great Capitals should be Puertos de Mar. Barcelona is more of a European city than Madrid while losing none of the ambiance that makes Spain different from the rest of Europe.

ScottyB writes: Is there some reason you list Malaga along with Madrid & Barcelona and did not include Sevilla (Capital of Andalucia) on your list?
BTW
Malaga is in southern Spain (Andalucia)

Your right Sevilla should of been on my list!
I guess I just feel as those bigger towns have lost some of the culture that Spain once was.
Don’t get me wrong I love Spain but I think that Madrid, Barcelona & Malaga are very Beautiful & Touristy and has lost some of the ambiance of Spain. If your looking for a vacation and you speak little or no Spanish you can make it those bigger towns. Everyone speaks English. As you get into southern Spain like Cadiz or Chiclana that people are different, {ie} like Texas from New York just different styles of life and talk.

chez123 writes: 3-days! Don't even think about Barcelona. Madrid has a similar ambiance (i.e., nightlife) and has the Museo del Prado, Palacio Réal, Centro de Arte de la Reina Sofia, Theissen Museo and so many more attractions. It also has many outdoor attractions like the Puerta del sol, Plaza de Oriente, Plaza Mayór, Puerto de Alcala, Cibeles, etc., etc. In 3-days you will barely have enough time to scratch the surface in Madrid. Enjoy!
BTW
ScottyB: You failed to mention Rota! If I connect the dots around the places you mentioned and your obvious exclusion of Rota (cadiz) I can't but help to suspect that you are (or have been) a Military person with some connection to NavSta Rota. You also left out Sanlucar de Barrameda (where the Manzanilla comes from).

Just to add my biased opinion,
If you stay some time in Madrid, there are so many historic cities you can visit on a day trip (Segovia, Toledo, Avila, Guadalajara, Chinchon, even Salamanca and Cordoba at a pinch)
There are a few subtle differences between the 2 cities (apart from having an extra language to deal with in Barcelona). A lot of day time bars (ie eat and drink places) seem to shut early in Barcelona, around 9 or 10 oclock which is v. early for Spain (you have plenty of choices though). Also in a lot of bars in Madrid you will get a free aperitivo/tapa with your drink.
Madrid feels more of a (Latin-) World city whereas as is correctly pointed out Barca feels like a european city. There are an awful lot of places in Barca that sell Frankfurters, Hamburgers, Bratwurst etc, but this is not the case in Madrid.
I found that in Barcelona all the atractions tend to be a long distance from each other (but they are certainly worth visiting). THe area in Barcelona I don't like is the Eixample is I found clinical and monotonous. In Madrid you only have to walk 2 or 300 metres and the ambience of the neighbourhood completely changes.
Another oddity in Barca is that all the music I heard was English language. It seemed that there maybe would be a problem with either playing Spanish or Catalan music (a large size of Barca's population originate from outside Catalunya). In Madrid you can still listen to plenty of Pop, Dance, Rock, blues, Jazz etc but you will be exposed to more spanish and Latin- AMerican music.
Anyway, you will find Madrid an experience. Have fun!!!!!!
(PS It can get very cold in winter in Madrid and snow is not unknown)

Oh I forgot to add,
Add Bilbao to your list of top Spanish cities (well it is Basque I know, but feels Spanish to a visitor). It is definitely worth visiting, and not just for the Gugenheim. Check out the design of the bridges over the river, or take their metro and visit the Atlantic ocean. Only make sure you have a raincoat - it tends to rain a little in the Basque country.

Barcelona is more European. Madrid is more Spanish. I think the people might be a little more friendly in Madrid but the scenery so much better in Barcelona, especially the view from Montjuic.

Samsonite:
Do you like painting (Velazquez,El Greco,Goya
Murillo).
Do you know :Prado,Thyssem,Reina Sofia,Sorolla,
Bellas Artes de San Ferando museums ??.

Do you like art ?: Mudejar,neo-neo mudejar,
baroque,neo-classical monuments.

Do you like the squares ?:
Plaza Mayor,Plaza de Santa Ana,Plaza de Oriente,Plaza de España,Plaza de los Carros,Plaza del dos de Mayo,Plaza de la Paja,Plaza de Puerta de Moros,Plaza de Chamberí,Plaza de Castilla,
Plaza de Dalí,Plazas de Cibeles,Neptuno,Puerta de San Vicente,Plaza de las Ventas.

Do you like the long green "paseos" and parks:
Paseo del Pintor Rosales,Paseo de la Castellana,
Paseos del Prado y Recoletos, Arturo Soria.
Botanical,Juan Carlos I,Capricho,Faunia or Retiro or Templo de Debob ?.

Do you know Madrid at 4 am (Tribunal,Huertas,Santa Ana,Sol,Alonso Martinez?.
Pachá,Joy,Palacio de Gaviria,Kapital.......???

Do you know areas near Madrid?:
Toledo,Segovia,Avila,Alcala de Henares,Aranjuez,
El Esocrial,Chinchon,La Granja,Valle de los Caidos
,Pedraza,Cuenca.

thanks everyone for your replies , im more excited than ever.Obviously 3 days is not long enough but hopefully i can go again .Reading one reply it said some of barcelonas bars shut early i noticed this and was quite disapoited,i take it this is not the case in Madrid even midweek in december, can someone confirm this.