Spain Vacation Review: Costa Brava Region, Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Alhambra

I was not sorry about anything we did as a first visit to Spain. It was good first exposure. So, these are not criticisms but just things I would do differently next time.
1) I would not stay at any hotel on Calle Gran Via in Madrid. That street is comparable to Times Square, NY. It is noisy all night long and well in to the morning hours. There was nothing on that street for us. We would have preferred a quiet hotel away from the crowds.
2) For a first time we had to see all of the major sites. But next time I would go out of my way to get out of touristy areas and try to find ways to interact with locals much more. I latched on to every opportunity to interact with locals and regular people. More of that would be a huge interest to me.