You are staying close to Plaza Santa Ana in Madrid. Then Madrid's best jazz venue, Café Central, is close by. Top artists every night at 10, 11€ entrance. Unbeatable atmosphere.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...al-Madrid.html

Two of Madrid's best flamenco tablaos will also be just on your doorstep. Cardamomo, literally so, just 50 metres away, and Casa Patas 3 mins walking:
http://www.casapatas.com/
http://www.cardamomo.es/

Always great artists, but look especially out for Belén López. She is one of the most interesting up and coming female flamenco dancers in the world today, and she has been dancing at Cardamomo every second week this year. Belén López is also dancing at Casa Patas between 6th and 11th of September. Here she is with an excellent team in a previous performance at Casa Patas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8P5uFygAC0

Have a great trip!

I think you will always "short-change" any city on a road trip.

Day 11, the trip to Granada

The drive via A-4050 is indeed stunning, but as you can see on Street View, you should take your time.

The "hardest" thing is to find the starting point of A-4050 in Almuñécar as it has no direct connection to the coastal highway N-340.

Use Google maps and request a routing from Nerja to Jete, a little village north of Almuñécar.

Zoom into Almuñécar to the location where you leave N-340 in Almuñécar for Jete, through an old style roundabout (with the main road N-340 cutting thru the roundabout with priority).
You take the exit to the right, but keep left to stay in the roundabout lane, cross both lanes of N-340 (careful, lots of traffic), enter the roundabout section on the other side of N-340, and take a right after a few meters. So you made *almost* a full 360° turn. Follow the one-way street for appr. 200m. At the yield signs make a right onto A-4050.

Please, while in Seville attend a performance at http://www.casadelamemoria.es/ We saw two flamenco performances in Seville - one at Los Gallos and the other at the Casa de la Memoria. Los Gallos was a boring, canned tourist show. The performance at Casa de la Memoria gave me goosebumps. Just arrive early - 45 minutes or so - to stand in line for a good seat. This is one of the most enduring memories I have of our trip through Andalusia.

I really enjoyed Madrid and don't think you have too much time there at all, especially if it is only 3 days. I really loved my day trip to Segovia from there.

What's up with five days in Barcelona, though. I have never spoken with anyone who was that crazy about it, but I'm sure there must be some. I'd add at least one to Seville from that.

Trust me, there are *some* who are *that crazy* about Barcelona to spend five or even more days there! Just as there are people who think you need more than 2 nights in Sevilla. Or four vs. three nights in Madrid. Or vice versa.
BCN vs MAD can get as heated a discussion as FCB vs Real. Or not as Barça always wins :-)

If the OP had planned to spend ONE night each in Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona, some mild critisizm would be appropriate. But there is no *rule* how many days you need.

I will leave for Barcelona the third time this year next week. And I will stay one week, because there is still a ton of things I want to see, or see again.

If OP feels unhappy to leave Sevilla after two nights, he'll have a good reason to return to Andalucia and focus on that region more after his *appetizer* tour.