10 days in Spain and Morocco

A quick starter:
Really depends quite a lot on what 'Public transport' you're considering.

Whatever works - train, bus, boat, maybe by air if really necessary

Although you've allowed for three sites in ten days, which is quite reasonable, I'd give Tangiers a miss. It's not the best introduction to Morocco.
And, given that you'll probably suffer a certain amount of jet-lag, you may prefer to take things easy.
Why not add Seville to your itinerary instead? There's plenty to see there, but the old town has a lovely, laid-back ambiance that you'll find enchanting.

Its difficult to go from Barcelona to Granada without losing a full day (that's one day in each direction). Given that you only have 10...

With 10 days, I recommend trying to cover less ground and doing more research. Have a look at places such as Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Merida, Trujillo, Cuenca, Albarracin, Cazorla, etc. Given 10 days and that you're coming from across 9 timezones, I would say stick to one region of Spain.

For starters, have a look at the UNESCO World Heritage sights list for Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Spain
Spain has 44 sights on that list, twice as many as USA.

Also, Tangier is not really that interesting in comparison to other Moroccan cities. Given the short time frame, flights are your only realistic option.

Thank you both! This is some good advice. I will think about visiting Morocco on a separate trip. I agree that there is a lot to do in Spain without bothering to venture to the nearby countries.

After looking at flights more carefully, I may arrange the trip such that we fly into Barcelona and out from Malaga. Thus, after we see Barcelona, we can focus on places like Granada, Sevilla, etc. without having to back track all the way to Barcelona.

I may arrange the trip such that we fly into Barcelona and out from Malaga.

Now THAT is an excellent idea. :?))

"Its difficult to go from Barcelona to Granada without losing a full day (that's one day in each direction). Given that you only have 10..."

In fact it's dead easy!

Take the night train Trenhotel Alhambra departing Barcelona-Sants at 20:00 arriving to Granada next morning at 07.30.

Or even better take an earlier train to Valencia, spend the afternoon and evening walking around the city, have a dinner(Valencia is the home of the original paella!) or and catch the same train passing through Valencia at 23:34(Just after Spanish dinner time) still leaving you about 7 hours of potential sleep.

I would advise flying Barcelona-Jerez on Vueling airlines as it's quite cheap. Otherwise you can fly Barcelona-Granada or Sevilla, many departures daily.

Is Barcelona a must? May be it would be easier to visit Madrid/Toledo instead, only 1 3/4 hrs by train from Cordoba and 2 1/2 hrs from Sevilla (departures at least every 30 min).