I will be traveling to Seville, rural areas in southern Spain, to Madrid and lastly to Barcelona for 28 days starting March 9.
Since I believe this is still off season, is there any advice to take regarding, closing times, or wandering neighborhoods or other activities given this time of year and the shorter days.
I was in your areas minus the "rural areas" last March. My itineraries were not affected by early closings. Spain has light later than I am used to here in Chicago. Websites are good with posting hours for museums and tourist venues.
Hours of daylight, adjust for month and location: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@10297235
I'm certain that there are more tourists in "high season", but there was no lack of travelers even in March. Lines for Prado and Reine Sophia entry, sold-out Gaudi sites in Barcelona, etc. I had to rearrange my plans for Barcelona - my hotels of choice were full due to conventions. Numbers didn't prevent me from seeing anything I wished, but I did need several advance tickets, monitored websites for ticket availability, and waited in a few lines.
Because Spain is in the wrong time zone (located south of England but in the same time zone as the western part of continental Europe), the sun sets a lot later than one would expect.
It's definitely smart to check the websites of the attractions you want to visit. Some may adjust their hours seasonally. The sights and stores that observe the siesta may shift their closing period between winter and summer, shortening the afternoon break in the winter and closing a bit earlier.
One example of a schedule change: The Alhambra introduces nighttime hours at some point in the spring.
I spent April 2019 in Andalucia and then spent the next 1-1/2 weeks farther north, and I don't remember any difficulty with too-limited visiting hours. Things did get scrambled during Holy Week in cities taking that week's celebrations especially seriously. It seemed to be mostly a matter of adjusting to the disruptions caused by massive processions.
