Granada and Seville are Andalusia's twin showcases of Moorish Spain, each built around a palace complex that draws visitors from across the world. Both are hot, historic, and steeped in flamenco — but the day-to-day experience of each city is surprisingly different.
Granada's La Alhambra is the single most-visited Moorish site in Spain, its horseshoe arches and intricate stucco opening onto the Generalife Gardens. Seville counters with the Real Alcázar of Seville, still used by the Spanish royal family, and its own sprawling Alcázar Gardens — more formal, more manicured, less atmospheric than Granada's.
Granada layers its Christian history over Moorish ruins: the Catedral de Granada and adjoining Capilla Real sit beside the Renaissance Palacio de Carlos V. Seville's Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, topped by the bell tower La Giralda, with the vast, tiled Plaza de España as its showpiece.
Granada's Albayzín is a maze of whitewashed Moorish lanes climbing the hill opposite the Alhambra, with Carrera del Darro as its prettiest riverside street. Seville's Barrio Santa Cruz is the old Jewish quarter, tighter and more polished, opening onto the palm-lined Parque de María Luisa — Granada feels wilder, Seville feels curated.
For flamenco, Granada's Zambra Flamenco (Sacromonte Caves) shows happen in actual caves, while Seville's Flamenco Shows run in more conventional tablaos. Granada pairs well with a Tapas Bar Crawl and a day trip to Sierra Nevada National Park; Seville's day-trip options, Córdoba and Granada & The Alhambra itself, are stronger.
Choose Granada for the Alhambra, cave flamenco, and a wilder, hillier old town. Choose Seville for grander cathedrals, the Real Alcázar, and a livelier, more polished city center. Many travelers combine both, since Seville is itself a common day trip from Granada.