Just got back from vacation in Spain and Italy with a family group of nine. We planned on 3 days in Madrid, then flying to Italy and doing 4 days in Lucca. Final two days were in Rome, with 5 of the member flying back to the states and the rest of us making our way to Jerez and then back onto Madrid a week later. There was a bit of air travel involved and some trains.
Like most people I assumed RyanAir was the way to go for this inter-country travel. I was surprised when Iberia was just as inexpensive and without any of the annoyances that come with traveling on RA. One carry one and personal item was included on the basic fare with Iberia, and we didn't have to deal with the passport check that RA makes non-eu citizens go through, never mind the fact that the Iberia flights were scheduled 6 days of the week between MAD, BLQ and then FCO and Jerez.
I found it interesting that the Iberia gate agents barely glanced at our passports as we boarded and didn't check them against the boarding passes. I had managed to misspell the last name of one of group and had only discovered it at the gate when they called our group up.
Also, Iberia is the only airline I've been on where they dismiss/deplane by row. It was refreshing after dealing with the mess that is deplaning in the US.