I think whenever you board a coach, economy class seat for a long flight, you have to get your mind in a good place. You have to put it into a kind of hibernation mode for the next 8 hours.
The Iberia flight from Chicago to Madrid was, for whatever reason, a pretty good flight. Perhaps it was as simple as my mind being in a good place. Also, I find the long flights to a place I want to go is easier than the flight coming home from that destination.
I'm 5'11" and 195 pounds and had an aisle seat. It seemed roomy enough. Right before take off I changed seats to the row right in front of me where there was no one in the 3 seat row. The configuration of the plane in coach is 3-3-3. Having the aisle seat with no one next to me was most pleasant.
The seats all have video screens that are easy to manipulate. I watched 2 movies and slept some.
They served wine for free with dinner. Dinner was either beef or pasta. I had the beef. It was pretty good.
The staff on the plane was very pleasant.
I would definitely recommend Iberia. Especially if you can catch a good deal.