11 Days in Spain Itinerary - First Timers

I’d probably drop Barcelona, lay low in Madrid until ‘he has risen’, then do Granada and Sevilla.

11 days would be a comfortable minimum for that. More stops would risk a crammed itinerary.

Fly into Barcelona and sleep in Barcelona for three nights. Spend arrival day recovering from jet lag. The next day visit the Sagrada Familia but buy tickets before leaving home to guarantee a reservation. Buy the least expensive tickets because all you need to see is the exterior and interior. No need to go up one of the towers.
Fly nonstop from Barcelona to Granada for two nights. Buy tickets for the Alhambra when you buy your Sagrada Familia tickets.
Take a direct train train from Granada to Sevilla and sleep in Sevilla for two nights. Take a direct train from Sevilla to Madrid. You don’t have time to visit Córdoba.

I agree with Scudder about dropping Barcelona for this itinerary. I would concentrate my time in Madrid and Andalucia. March/April is the perfect time to visit Andalucia weather wise. And look into open-jaw (multi-city) tickets. Fly into Madrid and home from Seville. The 3 Andalucian cities all offer exceptional history, architecture, and culture, and each city is very different from each other architecturally and visually. A possible itinerary could be:

Madrid - 3 nights
Cordoba - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Seville - 4 nights

If you can get reasonably priced open-jaw airline tickets, then you don't have to backtrack to Madrid to fly home.

Thanks! Since we have to end our trip in Madrid, cutting Barcelona would likely mean being in Sevilla or Granada for Easter weekend (arriving Saturday). Will things be open? And will the crowds be massive? I’ve read a little about the processions, and I think that would be cool to experience, but also want to get to see some of the sights.

I spent part of Holy Week in Seville in 2019. There were lots of people walking around, but with the exception of one church (I think the staging area for a procession), all the (very many) sights on my list were open--not necessarily open their regular hours, but they were open. My impression was that hours were adjusted primarily when there was going to be a nearby procession likely to block access to the sight. The tourist offices in at least some of the cities in Andalucia put together a special Holy Week list of operating hours. I don't remember whether Seville did that, but I'd guess it did. I'm not sure all the sights manage to get their websites updated with the special Holy Week information.

Holy Week does slow down sightseeing activities for several reasons:

• Some reduction in hours at some sights, as per above.
• Possible need to visit the same area of the city twice since adjusted hours of neighboring sights may vary.
• Crowds on sidewalks and difficulty of cutting across processions, leading to increased walking time from one sight to the next.

None of the sights I went to were crowded to a problematic degree, but you should as always pre-book the Alcazar to avoid the very long, outdoor ticket line. For the Cathedral, buy the combo ticket at the nearby Church of San Salvador.

I didn't hit Cordoba or Granada during Holy Week, so I don't know what conditions will be like in those cities.

The Alhambra regularly sells out, sometimes more than a month in advance, so buy those tickets as soon as you are certain of your date(s) in that city. If Alhambra General tickets are sold out, go for Dobla de Oro tickets instead; they don't cost a great deal more and cover a few more-minor sights in the city.

I think kmkwoo nailed it with their recommended list of destinations. I visited during Easter week back in '19, in fact I was in Madrid during one of the processions; while I'm not Catholic, it was a nice touch to my trip to have witnessed and experienced what the local and the devout experience. Crowds weren't crazy or overwhelming, my understanding Andalusia is a bit more intense than up North particularly at night. Check Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown episode when he visited his cameraman's in-laws in Granada.

Barcelona isn't going anywhere, bank it for your return trip, perhaps include it with and a visit to Basque Country, thus you'll have a different experience from this trip, which is more focused on Madrid & Andalusia, both iconic Spanish destinations.

Because this is your first time visiting, there's a level of anxiety and confusion that comes with being in a new country so, I wouldn't pack too much onto your itinerary list. What is your mode of transportation? All the locations aren't too far apart so, your actual travel time won't chew too deeply into actual visit time, nothing worse than loosing a large chunk of the day to traveling rather than enjoying your trip.

Lots of good advice above.

Remember, Barcelona is the outlier - both geographically, culturally and politically. Barcelona is certainly worth a visit, but you are in danger of having too much on your plate. Lopping off Barcelona is the obvious solution - and you'll still have a nice full plate, just a more reasonable one. Although technically in Spain (depending on who you ask...) Barcelona is quite distinct, and it pairs well with other places nearby - the Basque region, and southern France, too. Save it for another trip.

One caveat: long-haul international air service from Sevilla is quite limited; you will probably have to connect in Madrid or elsewhere anyway. Yes, it's worth a try to see if you can do open jaws departing from Sevilla, but even if you can it may require another stop, so don't be shocked if it does.