Airlines in Spain and Portugal

I've flown Iberia from Miami to Madrid and then on to Rome. The Miami to Madrid leg was adequate. The leg from Madrid to Rome wasn't. If you wanted water, the only way to get it was to purchase an overpriced bottle and seating was tight. Vueling is an economy airline so you get what you pay for. I've met people who've been satisfied flying with them and the complaints mainly revolve around baggage and fees rather than reliability. The flight from Barcelona to Granada is only 90 minutes so discomfort might be acceptable.

I recently flew Ryanair from Bournemouth to Palma having previously vowed never to fly with them again however this time the flight was perfectly fine. There is now little difference between BA and Ryanair now that BA have resorted to behaving like an budget airline but without the budget prices. I actually had more legroom on the Ryanair flight than my previous BA flight, I didn't purchase food on either, Bournemouth airport was closer to me than Gatwick or Heathrow and as both airlines flew to Palma the choice ultimately came down to price. I have no concerns about flying with them again.

My wife has had a bad experience flying Iberia. I've heard that Tap are good and I have no experience with AirEuropa.

IMHO it's a bit absurd to label an airline for one or two bad experiences. I've been flying all sorts of airlines for a number of years, here in Europe and elsewhere, and with a handful of exceptions, I haven't found airlines which I would deem "off limits" for my future trips. And yes, I've suffered "incidents" in both regular airlines -even in some of the "deluxe" ones- and also with low-cost airlines.

For starters, incidents are not always necessarily imputable to the airline itself as there are many actors in an airport, from the baggage handlers to airport management, catering, etc. I know it's easier to blame the carrier but it's as unjust as it's absurd... you won't get satisfaction if it's not their fault. Secondly one gets what one pays for... same than with anything else in life, so one can't demand the same level of quality to say AA than to JetBlue or to Iberia than to RyanAir, you're paying far less for your ticket on a budget airline. Flying on a budget airline doesn't mean you're less secure, or the plane is necessarily older, or the pilot be less experienced... it means you're agreeing to a lower service quality (ie. no extra this or that allowed, seats might be a tad less comfy -albeit that's normally not a problem as these airlines tend to service short hauls) and most importantly, you're implicitly agreeing that if there's an unforeseen you know the airline will not respond as quickly or efficiently as a regular airline is supposed to. That's the hidden cost when flying low-cost airlines. Sure, on top of these trade-offs, you might also find "normal business malpractices" as in any other company... thankfully those, at least here in Europe, are "regularly" addressed by the European authorities and these days, flying with an airline, regular or low cost, tends to be an "acceptable" experience 90% of the time.

Vueling, RyanAir, Level, AirBerlin, EasyJet, Germanwings... are all low-cost airlines and many of them are simply white brands -so to speak- of other major airlines (ie Vueling and Level are white brands of AIG -the merger of Iberia and British Airways). In Europe, the difference between legacy (or regular) airlines and low-cost carriers is rapidly narrowing and these days, as mentioned above, the overall flight experience can be pretty similar but at a fraction of the cost.

Obviously, if you don't fly regularly, happen to choose a low-cost carrier that's new for you and are unlucky enough to suffer an incident -like kwarbritton79 recently did precisely with Vueling (gosh, to make things worst it seems she also hit an unacceptable customer rep!)- you're going to badmouth that airline... but, as I said I'm afraid that means little.... some of the top airlines (as in turnover) in Europe are precisely low-cost carriers... this should say something.

Enric hit that nail on the head.

In addition, TAP is part of the Star Alliance and Iberia is part of OneWorld. These are national air carriers.

As for Vueling and RyanAir, I have had very positive experiences, especially with RyanAir. Heck, I flew my whole family from Bratislava to Athens for under 100 Euro - total! What a great deal and everyone was very nice. You just have to understand what you are paying for and how to avoid extra costs. It doesn't take a genius.

You are limiting yourself for no reason.

Iberia is fine. It's turned into more of a budget carrier than it used to be when it was pretty much the only airline in Spain. No free sodas or snacks. It's owned by British Airways.

Vueling was fine for the one flight I took on it. Cheap, on-time, and seats were fine for a short flight. Had drink service. I'd fly it again for a flight under 3 hours.

Iberia is also fine. I've flown it Granada to Madrid a couple times, Madrid to Chicago or NY, and Barcelona to London. All flights were adequate. Comfortable enough in coach-flight terms. The trans-atlantic ones had two meals and good choices for tv/movies. Similar to trans-atlantic flight on any other carrier.

Barcelona to Granada will be a short flight. I'd fly any safe airline, which is all of them, picking based on price and schedule. Think of it like a flying bus - don't expect meals or much in the way of service on the budget airlines. But do look into luggage size restrictions before booking- if you have to check a bag the bag fees can be high so going with a different airline with more allowance could end up being cheaper.