Barcelona to Madrid - Fly or Train?

Is that price difference for one person or two? For travel this summer? Spanish train tickets are generally at their best price when booked two months in advance (nonrefundable).

What's your travel date? I'm surprised that there's that much of a fare difference.

Aside from being much more comfortable, the train will be significantly faster by the time you travel to and from the airports in question and allow for the necessary early arrival for security screening; the airport website recommends two hours for domestic flights.. I've never taken a domestic flight from Barcelona, but I flew home from El Prat in 2016, and I was in the United check-in line for almost an hour. Then I got extra attention at security and barely made my flight despite having arrived at the airport a full three hours before my scheduled departure time.

Scenery from the train is nothing spectacular, however.

The AVE Barcelona Madrid is one of the best high speed trains in the world. Fares are good if you buy well in advance at www.renfe.com
If you buy at renfe.com , you will get your ticket at your email. Print it or show it on the screen of your smartphone and you're good to go.
If buying at www.renfe.com , first set up a PayPal account. Be patient when buying at renfe.com, it is a bit difficult but it is the best place to buy your ticket with the super cheap promo fares.
If you are staying in Les Corts, take Metro L3 towards Trinitat Nova, and get off at Sants Estació. If you are carrying a lot of luggage, exit the station via the lifts (follow the Sortida with the wheelchair sign) and the station is only at a 2 min walk from the lift (you can see it, quite big, says Barcelona Sants). Go to platforms 1 to 6, pass the brief security control (1 min) and you can take your train. Not a lot of hassle.
In the train take whatever you like, no one is gonna weigh it. The AVE train leaves you at Madrid Puerta de Atocha, at the heart of Madrid. Once in Puerta de Atocha, use you CombinadoCercanías code so you get a commuter train ticket free of charge to travel anywhere in the Cercanías Madrid network. You can also obtain that ticket at the purple Cercanías Madrid machine once you pass the security control at Sants.
The train itself is super comfortable and moder, most of them have wifi (free of charge if you have a +Renfe card). Tourist class is fantastic, very spacious. On the direct trains in the morning you get breakfast at your seat in first class. The train also has a coffee coach and you can walk through it. There is more info at www.seat61.com
Many years ago, 2 journalists did the run from Barcelona to Madrid by plane and AVE. The AVE won, it was faster and it was less stressful.
The scenery from the train is great in winter...you can see lots of snow...and you can see also the variety of Spain!

Thanks for the speedy replies! I should have made myself more clear. First of all, the price difference mentioned in my original post is for one adult and one child round trip BCN/MAD.

The AVE fare is a total guess, because as far as I can tell, the tickets for early June are not for sale yet. (I based my guesstimate of AVE ticket price on a Monday departure in May.) The air fare is on my exact dates of travel (in June) on a budget airline -Vueling. (I've taken other flights on Vueling.)
The Renfe site has been frustrating because although they are supposed to sell AVE tickets 60 or 90 days out, the best I can see is about 6 weeks from now. I keep checking the website every week or so. I hope that in another few weeks, I will be able to see the actual cost of train travel on my dates. As far as I can tell, there is no significant discount for early purchase.
I should mention that I am a veteran ticket buyer on Italian trains. This is my first attempt to purchase tickets in Spain and I'm flummoxed. Your advice about plane/train is greatly appreciated.

There is a superb discount (up to 70%) when prebooking early. There might be a timetable change (summer is coming) or they will wait a bit more. What spaniards do is to check every day. If it isn't logged yet, try tomorrow. If it is logged, run to buy it! Promo fares are super limited and Barcelona Madrid is a busy route, so they get sold out quickly. I can see fares from 38€, but maybe they do summer sales and they get better.
While you wait to open the AVE booking, is to set up a paypal account. And be very patient with renfe website, it is a bit horrendous but the reward is big, as they sell at a super nice prices!

Heed Joan's advice. Weekly checks of the Renfe website are likely to leave you out of luck as others snap up all the lowest-priced tickets before you even know they are on sale.

Remember that the super prices are for non-changeable/non-refundable tickets, so be sure your itinerary is firm before buying.

Thanks acraven and JoanG. My dates of travel are 4 June - Barcelona to Madrid, return on 9 June. It seems to me that train travel will be much less trouble than flying, even though it costs more than flying. I will keep checking the Renfe site daily from now on. I already have a PayPal account, but should I register at the Renfe site and set up an account now? The Renfe site is interesting, on some dates they show round trip fares that are a super price, but those deals are few and far between.
In addition to checking Renfe frequently, I have set up alerts on loco2.com. In theory, they will send email when tickets become available for my dates of travel.
Thanks again.

It is not a bad idea to register online at www.renfe.com . Note you will need google translator to make things easier. Once you have registered, fill out the "my companions" section with all the details of your partners, then click Nuevo to add the companion to the list. That way you can go faster when buying online. Telephone number can be a spanish one invented (like 668478964, don't worry, it doesn't send nothing there if you don't want to). When selecting document, select Pasaporte (Passport, you don't have a DNI spanish ID card, right) and fill out all the details.
Spaniards have 2 surnames: if it is requested, just repeat your surname again in the box. Easy.
When buying online, don't click on the price, pass over the price so you can see all the options. On the AVE trains there is the quiet coach, perfect to do a nap while travelling or work...note children should be quiet in that coach, and talking a lot is not allowed on that coach. The other coaches you can talk normally, have a bocata (what all spaniards do, as most of them think the coffee coach is overpriced for spanish standards)...

without a doubt, take the train!