I’ve been to Madrid and Barcelona, both are great places to visit, but people at Barcelona are mean to tourists and don’t like to socialize very much (at least they weren’t very nice to my brother and me) I’m Mexican and I thought I wouldn’t have any communication problems, but people at Barcelona tend to talk in Catalan just for the fun of it (and to emphasize you are a stranger in their land). Madrid’s people were eager to help everytime we asked for directions or a place to grab something to eat. So I agree with you Madrid is better.