Overall, spring, early summer and
autumn are ideal times for a Spanish
trip - though the weather varies
enormously from region to region.
The high central plains suffer from
fierce extremes, stiflingly hot in
summer, bitterly cold and swept by
freezing winds in winter. The
Atlantic coast, in contrast, has a
tendency to damp and mist, and a
relatively brief, humid summer. The
Mediterranean south is warm
virtually all year round, and in
parts of Andalucía positively
subtropical, warm enough to wear a
T-shirt by day even in the winter
months.
In high summer the other factor
worth considering is tourism itself.
Spain plays host to some thirty
million tourists a year - almost one
for every resident - and all the
main beach and mountain resorts are
packed in July and August, as are
the major sights. August, Spain's
how holiday month, sees the coast as
its most crowded and the cities, by
contrast, pretty sleepy.
Average temperatures
|
| Jan |
March |
May |
July |
Sept |
Nov |
| Madrid
(°C) |
9 |
15 |
21 |
31 |
25 |
13 |
| Castile
(°F) |
49 |
59 |
70 |
88 |
77 |
56 |
| Málaga
(°C) |
17 |
19 |
23 |
29 |
29 |
20 |
| Costa
del Sol (°F) |
63 |
67 |
74 |
84 |
84 |
68 |
| Sevilla
(°C) |
15 |
21 |
26 |
35 |
32 |
20 |
| Inland
Andalucía (°F) |
59 |
70 |
78 |
95 |
90 |
68 |
| Pontevedra
(°C) |
14 |
16 |
20 |
25 |
24 |
16 |
| Galicia
(°F) |
58 |
61 |
68 |
77 |
75 |
61 |
| Santander
(°C) |
12 |
15 |
17 |
22 |
21 |
15 |
| Cantabrian
coast (°F) |
54 |
59 |
63 |
72 |
70 |
59 |
| Barcelona
(°C) |
13 |
16 |
21 |
28 |
25 |
16 |
| Catalunya
(°F) |
56 |
61 |
70 |
83 |
77 |
61 |
| Cap
Bagur (°C) |
14 |
16 |
20 |
27 |
25 |
16 |
| Costa
Bravo (°F) |
58 |
61 |
68 |
80 |
77 |
61 |
| Alicante
(°C) |
16 |
20 |
26 |
32 |
30 |
21 |
| Costa
Blanca (°F) |
61 |
68 |
78 |
90 |
86 |
70 |
| Mallorca
(°C) |
14 |
17 |
22 |
29 |
27 |
18 |
| Balearic
Islands (°F) |
58 |
63 |
72 |
84 |
80 |
65 |
Note that these are all
average
temperatures - and whilst
Sevilla, the hottest city in Spain,
can soar into the nineties at midday
in summer, it is a fairly
comfortable 23-27°C (75-80°F)
through much of the morning and late
afternoon. Equally, bear in mind
that temperatures in the north, in
Galicia for example, can approach
freezing point at night in winter,
whilst mountainous regions can get
extremely cold at any time of year.
