I home exchanged in Salamanca during the summer of 2013. I stayed in Madrid for 4 nights at the end of the trip and found the city very worthwhile. The relevant blogs can be found here:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...pain-2013.html

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...pain-2013.html

There are also photos. You can find the links on my blog for those as listing them all would be a bit much here.

I have never been to Barcelona (but it's on the list). Madrid is very interesting--especially if you like art galleries.

My one visit to Madrid was in the middle of January and I thought the weather was perfect. Sunny and mild - the Saturday was in the low 60 during the day and the other two days were in the high 40s/close to 50.

When Barcelona, a city I love, comes up with a museum that matches the Prado, do let us know. This has to be one of the most absurd posts on this board, ever.

In Barcelona, the art is in the architecture.

No, the only thing that Barcelona has over Madrid is its location, on the sea, and that's only important in summer.

Dukey, as you can read from other too, this is a personal matter of taste and preference... We're back, after extending our stay in Barcelona to a whole week, and indeed, if we ever go back to Spain (which I hope), it will be to Barcelona, not Madrid.

Again, I have not yet been to Barcelona, but I would return to Madrid in a heartbeat. I really loved the art galleries, but would have liked a lot more time to explore them rather than have to do them one after the other. I also went to a bullfight (yeah it is kind of nauseating, but it is something you need to do once as part of the culture), the Royal Palaces in Madrid, Aranuez and Escorial. I was, of course, centered in Salamanca. I did a lot of driving during the home exchange.

I enjoyed myself immensely in Madrid.

I am curious about where you stayed (or went) in Madrid where you found it dirty. And where you stayed or went in Barcelona where it wasn't. Can you be more specific?

I am also curious as to why you don't think Barcelona is a big European city. It has almost as many residents as Paris.

I meant to add that I don't know when you are planning to return to Barcelona but unless it is soon you might not be returning to Spain when you go.

Here is more on Madrid being a clean city (from wiki)

"Madrid has a very modernized and elaborate transportation network of buses and Metro. The city contrasts with some large European cities in that it is extremely clean, and city employees in bright yellow vests can almost always be seen cleaning the streets and sidewalks."

http://wikitravel.org/en/Madrid

http://journeyaroundtheglobe.com/eur.../madrid-spain/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...21-Madrid.html

https://www.facebook.com/hemant.gava...19926744708854


I saw that in another thread you posted that you stayed near Atocha station. The areas around train stations in most cities around the world are usually shabby and the least attractive parts of the city. I don't think "dirty" is an apt description of Madrid for most visitors who stay in the nicer parts of the city.

I said it before, this is a personal matter of taste and preference. No sense of arguing on those matters. "I am also curious as to why you don't think Barcelona is a big European city." No sense of putting words in my mouth which I never said — and then argue about it...