[polak]

As mentioned above, I'd avoid Madrid, at least as an extended stop. You can see it all in a day. Barcelona is great, I didn't do much sight seeing outside of the obvious "must-see's" so I can't help with that but it's a great place for tourists. You can get by with English any where near the tourist area. The Metro in Braca is really easy to use and get around. Felt safe the entire time as well, even when I was walking around alone after the bars emptied out. As for hotels, we stayed at a 4 star that was really nice and inexpensive compared to most of Europe. It was too far from the main tourist area (La Rambla) to walk but right next to a metro which was only a 5 minute ride. We also uh, visited, a couple other hotels that were similar (4 Stars, not in the tourist area) and they were also really nice so I'd strongly recommend looking into something like that because unless your budget is quite high, everything near La Rambla looked awful and extremely loud.

One sight that is a must if you're a sports fan is Camp Nou, especially if you're into soccer.

I did get screwed 3 separate times by ATM's not giving me my money but charging my account anyways and according to the lady I spoke to at my bank, it's pretty common in Europe. Still haven't got most of my money back and that was in June, so I'd just be careful about that I guess. Next time I go, I'm only sticking to Multi-national banks that I recognize.

Note:
I don't know where you have and haven't been, but it seems odd to pick two of the more expensive and most "party oriented" countries in Europe when it doesn't sound like that's what you're going for. There are plenty of places in Europe that offer all of the same, if not more history, sights and weather for cheaper. Just saying.