Spain in April for Seniors?

There’s no reason you shouldn’t visit those two cities. There are plenty of things to see and do without visiting museums or going to Barcelona’s beach.

If something did happen to manifest while you’re there, just walk away from the disturbance and return at another time or day. Don’t let the videos scare you away.

How much time do you have? Have you been to Spain before? Madrid is a pretty city, but not my favorite.Madrid has world class art museums, but you may not be interested in them. There are great day trip options from Madrid--Toledo, Segovia, and more. Depending on the amount of time you have, I'd add Sevilla. Sevilla is a favorite for many people. Sevilla is a 3-4 hour high speed train museum from Madrid. https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/sevilla.

Be aware that Easter is April 20. There are celebrations in Spain for Holy Week, especially in Sevilla. That may be a positive or negative.

I'd think about Madrid and Sevilla with train between the two cities.
Or Madrid/Valencia, connected by fast speed trains.

Each of us have differing perspectives. We have only been to Barcelona. It was my least favorite city in Europe. To be fair I was a bit under the weather. I found the city unwieldy, the public tranport not that great - again, we may have stayed too far out of central area. The architecture - I found Gaudy to be, well, gaudy. But that was 17 years ago.

This time we are going to Madrid and Andalucia. Not for the beaches, not obscessing about the museums - we may take some in. But for the history and culture. Depending on how long you have, maybe consider going to Seville and Granad/Cordoba, in addition to Madrid.

I am not sure what your age has to do with traveling to Spain, as the country is a great destination for those of all ages.

There is so much to see and do in Spain that the list is almost endless. You can be as active or as sedate as you choose, depending on health, fitness, and energy. I have been to all the places you enjoyed, and they are all pleasant, but I always look for what is unique about each place where I travel, and I certainly do enjoy large cities as well as small medieval towns.

For me Spain is more than just a country with tourist places to visit--it is a vibrant historic nation with a lot of passion, art and history, and my heart is always happy as soon as I start hearing "Castellano."

We do not do full guided tours, but we definitely take day trip tours when our time is more limited, and there are some great tour ideas with companies like Walks, who we often use.

We have driven all over Spain, as well as taken trains everywhere. As we often have larger suitcases these days, we avoid local public transportation and take taxis. When we were quite young we had backpacks, and even a tent!

Going in mid-April means most of the beach locations will be too cold for swimming anyway, bit it is certainly a pleasure to stroll on beaches.

Well, I would strongly recommend lovely Sevilla as a place for you to visit, but Easter is April 20th, so the city will be extremely busy if you arrive near that time, as it is the center of many celebrations.

Madrid is a very large city, quite cosmopolitan, and very active. The museums in the city are world famous, and of course, there is the Royal Palace to tour. People watching in found in the Plaza Mayor. Near to Madrid with pretty easy access are the smaller and extremely historic towns of Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca and Ávila.

Barcelona is full of tourists these days, but the architectural wonders of Gaudí make the visit worthwhile. Train travel between the two large cities is very efficient and reasonably priced.

I strongly doubt you will encounter any protests in April, as the high travel season will not yet be underway.

Have fun planning, and have a wonderful trip. Buen viaje!

Some great responses already.
Don't miss Toledo for sure. Also, do Segovia it has a 1800 year old Roman aqueduct that was still working into the middle of the 20th Century.

Málaga and Valencia have been my two favorite Spanish cities to date, and I'm not a beach person. Granada and the Alhambra, though, shouldn't be missed IMO. The Alhambra is the single most affecting human-built thing I've ever visited. And Ronda, though I've not yet visited, is by all accounts one of the most beautiful places in Spain.

Barcelona is not very appealing to me, and Madrid is just a huge city. But the Prado art museum is a must for art lovers visiting Spain.