Spain Weather
Spain Weather Information…
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. Eliza Doolittle’s perfectly articulated sentence on Spanish weather is well-known. But does this very famous line from the movie My Fair Lady hold true? The rain in Spain actually does NOT stay mainly in the plain. When it does rain, it mainly falls in the northern mountains. In fact the Spaniards have translated the phrase to La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla, the rain in Seville is marvelous. And that is a big reason why visitors especially those from North Europe flock to Spain.
Spain does enjoy a generous amount of sunshine. Mediterranean weather prevails right down the east coast of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. Summers throughout the country are usually sunny but especially so in the south with hot sunny days and clear blue skies. The typically summer months are June, July and August. However it can get very hot in Spain’s internal cities, in places like Madrid and Seville, where temperatures can reach up to 113ºF/45ºC. In fact in August, a lot of places in these cities will be closed except for the main tourist attractions because locals will be heading to the coasts to cool off. The northern end of the coast is typically less hot than the southern areas, which can get the very hot and dry North African winds. Generally, it gets hot and at times humid along the coastline but the afternoon heat is usually tempered by cooling sea breezes. Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca will be full of Northern Europeans in the summer. The Balearic Islands which include Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza which has a similar climate to that of southeastern Spain will also attract its own share of visitors during this time. Winters in these areas are generally mild and much warmer than in the rest of Spain. Heavier rainfall occurs in late autumn, winter and early spring. Late spring is probably the best time to visit the Mediterranean regions of Spain.
Because Spain is such a large country, it experiences different climatic influences. The large differences of altitude and the contrast between coast and interior give Spain a range of climatic and weather conditions. While Spain enjoys very hot and sunny summers as mentioned above, on the other extreme end of the spectrum, it can get cold and in certain parts of Spain, it even snows. High altitude cities like Madrid, Toledo and Salamanca and the countryside around these cities can get very cold in the winter. Spain’s mountainous regions are the most likely regions for snow. Being the second most mountainous country in Europe, visitors to Spain can also expect alpine weather, with the Pyrenean region in northern Aragon being, on average, the coldest region of Spain. The Pyrenees experiences a lot of snow and has a lot of popular ski resorts for ski enthusiasts.
On the southeast coast of Spain that includes the region of Murcia and the southeast corner of Andalusia, expect dessert weather. This area is usually hotter and much drier and clear skies can be expected almost throughout the year. Winters are slightly cooler but much warmer when compared to other regions. One of the warmest, sunniest and driest places in Europe can be found here in Almeria. The Atlantic Ocean influences the weather in north and northwest Spain, like Bilbao, on the northern Atlantic coast. Summers are warm but not too hot and winters are generally mild,where it is cold but not too extreme, although it does get colder further away from the coastline. Rainfall is fairly high and occurs throughout the year. Central Spain sans its mountains, experiences continental weather which means greater differences between the seasons. In Madrid, for example, summers are hotter and winters are colder than on the coasts. Rainfall is quite low here too compared to the coastal regions.
The weather in Granada is quite interesting as despite being in the south, it can get quite cold in the Sierra Nevada mountains. One can literally head to the beach in the morning and go skiing in the afternoon, especially in early May. The weather in the Canary Islands is also very unique and different from the rest of Spain. Here is where one can get subtropical weather with warm summers, very mild winters, low rainfall and plenty of sunshine. It is no wonder the Canary Islands are called the ‘islands of eternal spring’. The weather from island to island varies and can be said to be mini-continents as they all have very different microclimates. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura to the east are typically hotter and drier than La Palma and El Hierro in the west.
