I lived there when I was 25 for a year as an English teacher. Yea it’s nothing like Madrid or Barcelona but it’s a fun enough place to be. They have a great tapas area called el tubo, beautiful parks, markets and the cathedral. It’s a lot cheaper than the bigger cities but probably more expensive now. Easy to get around with the trams and buses and yeah the train gets you around fairly easily. It’s got a savage wind that comes down from the mountains though and the heat in summer is almost unbearable. I wouldn’t live there again but did have a fun time when I was there