Driving an parking in Southern Spain

Driving difficulty is entirely subjective. I'm from the UK, I find driving in southern Spain easy. If you're American then you'll find it pretty similar notwithstanding driving on the same side however other people find it a daunting experience particularly driving in the mountains which does involve plenty of hairpin bends and some wild tailgating and overtaking from the locals.

Parking however does present problems particularly in the larger towns and cities. On street parking is tight and limited and many car parks are underground which are equally as tight as they were built for the traditionally smaller European car and are unsuitable for SUV's and even more so for vans. Do you require a van for the number of passengers or is it possible to change for a smaller car? If you are able to downsize I would definitely recommend doing so.

Do be careful about blindly following a GPS. Our hotel in Córdoba was on a narrow one-way street, accessible by small car but nothing larger. Walking that street to see the area, we had to flatten ourselves against the walls when a car approached. Then along came a larger SUV, which came so close to the walls the mirrors were nearly scraping. They crept along, windows down, with the female in the passenger seat in tears. The driver muttered something as they passed us, huddled into a doorway to let them pass--to the effect that he was just following the GPS and had to keep going forward. Hearing him speak English, we advised there was a square up ahead where they would have more room, and they could stop there and get directions for a way out of the maze. But clearly they not anticipated the narrowness of the city streets when they chose their rental car. I hope their marriage survived.

Driving between cities and towns is quite easy. The A routes (biggest roads) are like our interstates, just better maintained with fewer potholes. Smaller roads are also well maintained and signed, but some of the smallest through the hills may be narrow. Around the cities there is more traffic but it is no harder than your average US city.
The issue comes when you get into the core of the old part of the city - here you get streets that are extremely narrow, one way difficulty and a more confusing layout. It's manageable in a smaller car, but with a van you just won't fit in some of the small streets. I'm thinking of the Albayzin in Granada where people have to duck into doorways in order for a small sedan to drive past. Seville and Cordoba also have very narrow streets in the old quarters. Cadiz probably does too. Granda poses a further problem in that many of the city streets are closed to visitor traffic - you can get a ticket if you aren't a resident or staying in a hotel in the zone.

All this is manageable - you would just need to park a little farther out and walk or take a bus to the core of the city. In Granada, the Alhambra lot and getting to it from the main routes is no trouble at all, and from there you can visit the Alhambra and walk or get a bus into the city. Garages on the periphery of towns are common. Look on google maps ahead of time to have some idea of where things are and you shouldn't have much trouble. Just don't try to drive a van down a street designed for mules ;)

You can easily travel via high speed train from Sevilla to Córdoba.
Travel time is about 45 minutes and you won't need to worry/stress about finding parking for your car.

My husband and I just returned from two weeks in Andalucia, and we drove a rented car from Sevilla to Ronda, then from Ronda to Granada - about 4.5 hours total driving.

I found the drivers to be just as aggressive as American drivers, however there ARE police around. The roads were windy, VERY hilly and incredibly beautiful. Do be advised that it's so hilly that my little car had a hard time getting up them, and it was a exercise in down-shifting and up-shifting constantly. There are passing lanes if people need to pass you.

Also, for reference in Cordoba - there's a hotel called Hesperia Cordoba across the roman bridge in new town - there's a dirt parking lot next to it that you can park in and just walk across the bridge. Personal opinion, Cordoba is worth no more than one day and maybe a night. It's expensive, very touristy, aggressive gypsies and other than the Mezquita and some nice streets, it's very one-note. Again, my opinion.

Sevilla was tough to park in because the streets are windy and most are one-way - there's a department store called El Corte Ingles that has underground parking lots around - so seek those out if you can't find on-street parking. It wasn't overly expensive. Generally the same advice for Granada.