# Winter in Spain



## CaperSenior (Apr 21, 2020)

Hello All:

My first posting. My wife and I are Canadian having just endured a brutal winter and of course a pandemic. When all of this is over, we hope to be able to spend our winters somewhere much less winterish than our current location. We both like Europe in general and have visited Spain several times for golf and tennis. My concern is how cold does it get in winter in the south of Spain? Is it generally warm enough in December, January, and February to play tennis and do people actually plan very much in those months. I haven't narrowed down where we will eventually land in Spain but the warmest regions will be a factor.

Then there's tennis ... for another posting


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

CaperSenior said:


> Hello All:
> 
> My first posting. My wife and I are Canadian having just endured a brutal winter and of course a pandemic. When all of this is over, we hope to be able to spend our winters somewhere much less winterish than our current location. We both like Europe in general and have visited Spain several times for golf and tennis. My concern is how cold does it get in winter in the south of Spain? Is it generally warm enough in December, January, and February to play tennis and do people actually plan very much in those months. I haven't narrowed down where we will eventually land in Spain but the warmest regions will be a factor.
> 
> Then there's tennis ... for another posting


On the Costa del Sol it isn't too bad and can be quite sunny with temps quite often around 16°C (61F) and generally pleasant. I live a little inland and the first winter here, I got frost-bite.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

There's a big difference between what people who live here all the time do, and what those who are visiting from colder climates do. We see tourists even sunbathing and swimming in the winter months, whilst native Spaniards and full time residents are going about in sweaters and coats.

People certainly play golf in the winter, and play tennis too. It's probably more pleasant to do either in the winter than it is at the height of the summer when it is just too hot.

In winter, even in the far South of Spain, it is cold early in the morning but starts to warm up around 11 am when the sun gets high enough, and the temperature drops very sharply around 5pm when the sun is going down. It's often necessary to dress in layers so that they can be taken off and put back on again as it gets warmer/colder. You will also find that it is very often colder inside homes/bars/restaurants than it is outside, during the day. Don't ever think you can leave your warm clothes at home when coming to Spain for a visit in the winter.


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## Mila P (Aug 15, 2018)

my wife and I winter here in Southern Spain(end of October - end of April )182 days approx. 
We can confirm, everything that Lynn R said is spot on and difficult to expand upon. However it is just not only the folks that live here permanently v tourists that differentiate between what is warm/hot weather days. Following your first wonderfully warm (you will be only comparing with Canada at this stage) winter and by the second visit,you will quickly have greater expectations of temperatures and dress accordingly. We often laugh at ourselves for moaning when some days it 'only' reaches 15 degrees - then we look at the temp for our Ontario town and see a high of -2. 
It really is a wonderful country for Canadians along with others, of course, in which to winter - go for it  We spend most of the time outside, either visiting other towns/villages or in our garden.


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## Glynb (Oct 6, 2016)

My first full year as a resident here on the Costa Blanca, so it's interesting to see how the temperature varies month to month. We Brits tend to think of Spain as hot, as we come here for summer holidays, but it gets surprirsingly cold in the winter months. A friend advised us to have central heating fitted when renovating the house. We were sceptical, but took the advice. We have used it and been glad of it on a few occasions, but unlike the UK where it's on solidly for months on end, we only really use it on exceptionally cold days.

As others have said, layers are needed. You can wake up to 8c, by midday it might be 20c, mid afternoon 24c, or on other days stays in the 'teens'. So if you're out for the day you'll need to discard clothing as the day goes on. And yes you'll need winter coats and shoes, though probably not snow boots 

This winter 2019/20 has been remarkably changeable weather wise. Lots of wet days, cool, windy, and of course periods of warm sunshine. I do hope this winter is exceptionaly poor, because the weather is currently reminding me of the UK, while in the UK they're having pretty good weather!

We have friends who play both golf and tennis all year round, so no problem at all, there isn't a closed season, except the summer as too hot!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Glynb said:


> This winter 2019/20 has been remarkably changeable weather wise. Lots of wet days, cool, windy, and of course periods of warm sunshine. I do hope this winter is exceptionaly poor, because the weather is currently reminding me of the UK, while in the UK they're having pretty good weather!


I'm not on the Costa Blanca, but in the almost 14 years I've been here (nowhere near as long as some) I've known worse winters than this past one. 2009/10 was the worst by far, it didn't seem to stop raining for months on end and was cold too, so everything seemed perpetually damp. There have been other years when we've had spells of much colder weather than anything we experienced this year. I thought the weather in January and February this year was pretty good and warmer than usual, but it's since we went into lockdown in March that the spring weather has been poor, we've had a few fine days but more rain and cloudy days than usual. Having said that, it's rare for all the elaborate preparations and huge expense put into the Semana Santa processions not to be wasted to a greater or lesser extent because almost every year they end up getting cancelled on one or more days of Holy Week due to rain.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

The OP doesn't way where in Canada but there are areas that hit -40 and other "warmer" areas that routinely get below -10. If they're coming from those sort of areas their cold weather clothing will be useful only in the mountains. 

But the mentioned rain might/will surprise them. They might find the heating and weather proofing worse than they're used to.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

For those seeking year round warmth, surely the Canary Islands would be worth considering. The cliamte there being quite different to minland Spain.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Is it really warmer than Almeria?


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## CaperSenior (Apr 21, 2020)

Thanks Lynn, that seems to describe my general expectations on what I would be faced with during winters in South Spain. While I would rather warmer weather, anything 16 and above would be more than tolerable - especially on sunny days (of which there are lots i understand). I also understand that weather fluctuates like anywhere else, so you can have some glorious weeks in winter and some not so great. I am thinking that my first long-term (5 months or so) foray will likely be in south Spain to test the waters (not physically). As for froast bite, Baldilocks, I am hoping that was during one of those not so great fluctuations.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

NickZ said:


> Is it really warmer than Almeria?


Yes. Don't forget that the Canaries are only politically in Europe, geographically they are African.

Average January Max / Min Almería: 16º/9º
Average January Max / Min Tenerife: 20º/15º

Source is of course Google.


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## CaperSenior (Apr 21, 2020)

Overandout said:


> For those seeking year round warmth, surely the Canary Islands would be worth considering. The cliamte there being quite different to minland Spain.


From what i have read, the Canary Islands certainly seem warmer than mainland Spain, but also seems more expensive. In my hunt for the warmest places to winter in Europe, Canary Islands always come up first, followed by south Spain (and Cyprus in some cases), and Almeria comes up quite often, though it seems there are only a couple degrees difference from Faro in Portugal all the way up to Costa del Sol.

From what i am reading, the two things I want to do - play tennis and explore Spain and other parts of Europe can be accommodated weatherwise, though not beach weather. Above 20 would be glorious, but it sounds like that is the exception. Considering in late April we are still low single digits daytime and single digit negatives in the nighttime, 15 degrees would seem glorious. Though, as someone mentioned, you acclimatize to that pretty quickly. I lived in the Middle East for almost a decade and at 18 degrees I was wearing a touque and a couple of sweaters!


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

NickZ said:


> The OP doesn't way where in Canada but there are areas that hit -40 and other "warmer" areas that routinely get below -10. If they're coming from those sort of areas their cold weather clothing will be useful only in the mountains.
> 
> But the mentioned rain might/will surprise them. They might find the heating and weather proofing worse than they're used to.


Have had some lovely Spanish winters, bonus is the hour or more of daylight too. Agree about heating etc. Spanish houses aren’t built for cold weather. Even with CH and double glazing house turns cool quickly unless running it constant. A Swedish friend on the CDS has triple glazing.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

CaperSenior said:


> From what i have read, the Canary Islands certainly seem warmer than mainland Spain, but also seems more expensive. In my hunt for the warmest places to winter in Europe, Canary Islands always come up first, followed by south Spain (and Cyprus in some cases), and Almeria comes up quite often, though it seems there are only a couple degrees difference from Faro in Portugal all the way up to Costa del Sol.


Are you worried about purchase price or living costs? The islands will be more expensive for some things but they have reduced VAT and few other offsets IIRC.

For purchase I wonder how many vacation rentals are going to be dumped onto the sale market . 

One thing about weather is you need to pay attention to altitude. I think last winter Tenerife had snow in the hills. The higher altitude areas of southern Spain won't be warm.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

CaperSenior said:


> From what i have read, the Canary Islands certainly seem warmer than mainland Spain, but also seems more expensive. In my hunt for the warmest places to winter in Europe, Canary Islands always come up first, followed by south Spain (and Cyprus in some cases), and Almeria comes up quite often, though it seems there are only a couple degrees difference from Faro in Portugal all the way up to Costa del Sol.
> 
> From what i am reading, the two things I want to do - play tennis and explore Spain and other parts of Europe can be accommodated weatherwise, though not beach weather. Above 20 would be glorious, but it sounds like that is the exception. Considering in late April we are still low single digits daytime and single digit negatives in the nighttime, 15 degrees would seem glorious. Though, as someone mentioned, you acclimatize to that pretty quickly. I lived in the Middle East for almost a decade and at 18 degrees I was wearing a touque and a couple of sweaters!


I confess to not being very informed about the cost of living in the Canaries, but I am quite surprised that it would be more expensive than mainland Spain.

That said, I live in Madrid which is one of the more expensive parts of the mainland so my perspective is probably skewed.

As for the climate, a 9º minimum in Almeria seems quite chilly to me! I'd want central heating at that temperature, but as you say it's all relative.

I remember getting up one morning in Bangkok and it was "only" 16º. I thought I was going to freeze to death on my motorbike on the way to work!


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

I have heard the Canaries are more expensive. I thought it was but have only been as a tourist. Have to say the Canaries are not my favoured part even though the weather is better. 

Have found Madrid less expensive than Marbella for drinks and eating out.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Madrid is one of the cheaper EU capital cities. 

The problems with the islands are the same no matter what. Limited real estate so property prices tend to be higher. Also so much of it is being used for holiday rentals . 

The other problem is so much of the stuff needs to be shipped in. I don't know how much putting a truck on a ferry costs but it must be more than a free road.


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## CaperSenior (Apr 21, 2020)

Overandout said:


> I confess to not being very informed about the cost of living in the Canaries, but I am quite surprised that it would be more expensive than mainland Spain.
> 
> That said, I live in Madrid which is one of the more expensive parts of the mainland so my perspective is probably skewed.
> 
> ...


I just looked at some comparisons:

Malaga to Gran Canaria - Malaga is a bit more expensive
Marbella considerably more expensive
Madris much more expensive
Almeria considerably cheaper

Considering the weather, I may have to take another look at the Canary Islands. That is what i like about forums of this type, many opinions, disparate points of view, and bits of information open up your mind to other possibilities.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Re: Frost bite - I should have pointed out that we live at an altitude of 800 m or 2600ft amsl.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Just to be clear, I wasn't at all suggesting Madrid as a destination for the OP. 

We saw -5º C here this winter, and out of the urban sprawl -10º isn't uncommon in winter.

It was just a reference point to what I find expensive or cheap in Spain (I know that on world terms all of Spain is very cheap, including my wages!).


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Overandout said:


> Just to be clear, I wasn't at all suggesting Madrid as a destination for the OP.
> .


I understood that but was just pointing out Madrid isn't that expensive.. 

If this isn't a full time move the OP likely wants to consider a few other things.

How will they get from Canada? Flying isn't likely to be direct to the Canaries. That becomes even more important if the idea is a few shorter stays.

Will they be buying all the household stuff? Or shipping some personal effects?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

NickZ said:


> I understood that but was just pointing out Madrid isn't that expensive..
> 
> If this isn't a full time move the OP likely wants to consider a few other things.
> 
> ...


Without a resident visa they'd only be able to stay a max of 90 days in 180, so there's that to consider, too. 

Many Canadians do take a resident visa for a longer stay.


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## CaperSenior (Apr 21, 2020)

NickZ said:


> I understood that but was just pointing out Madrid isn't that expensive..
> 
> If this isn't a full time move the OP likely wants to consider a few other things.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your input. We just retired and took a year to re-establish in Canada (East Coast), before really getting into the many particulars of where we would like to winter. So, I have not researched many of those particulars. My first order of business was to look at Europe to see if there was anywhere I could winter where i could play tennis on a regular basis and not feel like I was freezing most of the time. That mainly led me to Cyprus, south of Spain/Canary Islands, and south of Portugal. We have vacationed in all except the Canary Islands. I had somewhat ruled Canary Islands out, or more accurately had less interest, because it seemed more expensive to me (though I don't think it is prohibitively so) and because of issues with being on any island. The other thing we want to be able to do is to explore the country we are staying in and other parts of Europe (also I have a son living in London). Living on the Canary Islands makes the latter more difficult. I have not looked into visa issues and I don't see us shipping stuff - we will travel light (though for that many months we may change our minds on that - I could see buying and equipping a place, and renting it when we are not there - which would be the summer months. But I will poke around with all of that over a couple of years before commiting. On the 90 day visa issue. Can you stay for 90, go somewhere for a week, and then come back for another 90? This is common in the Middle East where a tourist visa is 30 days - fly to whereever for a weekend and come back for another 30. No issues.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

CaperSenior said:


> Thanks for your input. We just retired and took a year to re-establish in Canada (East Coast), before really getting into the many particulars of where we would like to winter. So, I have not researched many of those particulars. My first order of business was to look at Europe to see if there was anywhere I could winter where i could play tennis on a regular basis and not feel like I was freezing most of the time. That mainly led me to Cyprus, south of Spain/Canary Islands, and south of Portugal. We have vacationed in all except the Canary Islands. I had somewhat ruled Canary Islands out, or more accurately had less interest, because it seemed more expensive to me (though I don't think it is prohibitively so) and because of issues with being on any island. The other thing we want to be able to do is to explore the country we are staying in and other parts of Europe (also I have a son living in London). Living on the Canary Islands makes the latter more difficult. I have not looked into visa issues and I don't see us shipping stuff - we will travel light (though for that many months we may change our minds on that - I could see buying and equipping a place, and renting it when we are not there - which would be the summer months. But I will poke around with all of that over a couple of years before commiting.* On the 90 day visa issue. Can you stay for 90, go somewhere for a week, and then come back for another 90? *This is common in the Middle East where a tourist visa is 30 days - fly to whereever for a weekend and come back for another 30. No issues.


Nope - as Bev said, it is 90 days in any 180


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

CaperSenior said:


> The other thing we want to be able to do is to explore the country we are staying in and other parts of Europe (also I have a son living in London). Living on the Canary Islands makes the latter more difficult. .


What you'd miss out on is driving or taking the train. The main islands are all major tourist destinations with flights every day to many European airports.


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## Glynb (Oct 6, 2016)

CaperSenior said:


> Considering the weather, I may have to take another look at the Canary Islands. That is what i like about forums of this type, many opinions, disparate points of view, and bits of information open up your mind to other possibilities.


Well here's another one to consider.... Living on an island can be inconvenient if you like to travel elsewhere regularly. My daughter lived on Ibiza. If she wanted to travel anywhere else she had at least a flight or ferry cost before any other costs of the trip. Ibiza was a lot more expensive for everything than The Spanish mainland, but I can't comment on the Canaries, though many goods would have to be imported at added expense, so maybe some things are?

If you live on mainland Spain you have the whole of Spain and France/Portugal etc, available to drive to, if desired. Of course if you choose not to drive then maybe it's not such a consideration. You can quite quickly explore a small island, then what?

Just a thought. [We used to live on an island, the UK, and always had the extra ferry costs and journey time, unlike our European friends!]


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Isn't Ibiza mostly a summer island? The Canaries are more of a year round islands with plenty of flights. 

It really depends on where the OP wants to go. Most of the large European cities shouldn't be an issue.


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## Glynb (Oct 6, 2016)

NickZ said:


> Isn't Ibiza mostly a summer island? The Canaries are more of a year round islands with plenty of flights.
> 
> It really depends on where the OP wants to go. Most of the large European cities shouldn't be an issue.


Yes, I did say it all depends on whether the OP likes to travel a lot and whether that includes motoring or just taking flights. That said, if you're on an island you're always 'at the mercy' of costs of flights or ferries, you can't just jump in your car and set off. Just a consideration is all.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I'd think twice before moving from Canada to one of the Canary Islands. It requires quite a change in mindset to move from a huge land mass to a relatively tiny island, that you can drive around in a day (more or less). I worked on oil rigs in central Canada many years ago and the locals wouldn't think twice about spending most of a day just driving to the next major town. I suspect they'd start feeling claustrophobic on such a small island.

As far as tennis goes, people play it outdoors right through the winter here in Madrid, so you definitely won't have problems in the parts of Spain with warmer winters. Even though the winters can be quite cold at times, you still get plenty of sunshine and not much rain, so it's really just a question of wearing the appropriate clothing.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Chopera said:


> I'd think twice before moving from Canada to one of the Canary Islands. It requires quite a change in mindset to move from a huge land mass to a relatively tiny island, that you can drive around in a day (more or less). I worked on oil rigs in central Canada many years ago and the locals wouldn't think twice about spending most of a day just driving to the next major town. I suspect they'd start feeling claustrophobic on such a small island.
> 
> As far as tennis goes, people play it outdoors right through the winter here in Madrid, so you definitely won't have problems in the parts of Spain with warmer winters. Even though the winters can be quite cold at times, you still get plenty of sunshine and not much rain, so it's really just a question of wearing the appropriate clothing.


 I think it's hard to talk about the weather in Spain except in very general terms. It has changed so much in recent years. Look at this month of April in Madrid. I've lived in my present house for 26 years and lived in Spain before that. I've never known such rain, almost every day since lockdown, even snow ( that we didn't have in the winter), whereas in England, or at least the southwest, they're enjoying the Spring that we "should" be having!
The Canary Islands in general enjoy more sunshine and a more constant warm temperature than mainland Spain it's true. They also can experience horrendous flooding...


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## Nomoss (Nov 25, 2016)

If you do move to one of the Canaries, or another small island, don't drive round it in the first week, or you'll have nothing to do for the rest of your time there


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

That's why I walk. Takes longer to see everything

From the sounds of it the OP wants a home base with good weather. The larger Canary islands don't sound like a bad choice. Flying from there to London isn't much worse than flying from Madrid or Barcelona.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

NickZ said:


> That's why I walk. Takes longer to see everything
> 
> From the sounds of it the OP wants a home base with good weather. The larger Canary islands don't sound like a bad choice. Flying from there to London isn't much worse than flying from Madrid or Barcelona.


Remember that if you are resident on a Spanish Island, you get discounted airfares and ferry charges to reach the mainland.

Incidentally, my wife and I looked into going to Tenerife for a holiday a while back, and it was cheaper to fly Easyjet to London from Madrid, and get a flight to Tenerife from there than it was to fly directly from Madrid to Tenerife. The "national" flights from the peninsula to the Canaries used to be really really expensive. Not sure if that is still the case.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Don't know about Tenerife but to Fuerteventura there are countless cheap flights from Barcelona. Madrid prices this year seem higher than in the past. A few years back they were so cheap that I could fly to Madrid. Stay in a hotel for three nights. Fly to Fue and still almost save money.

The advantage of Madrid is the Ryanair flights had better times.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

NickZ said:


> That's why I walk. Takes longer to see everything
> 
> From the sounds of it the OP wants a home base with good weather. The larger Canary islands don't sound like a bad choice. Flying from there to London isn't much worse than flying from Madrid or Barcelona.


About 2 hours worse.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

So between everything a morning more or less either way. The difference between an early lunch and a late one.


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