When is the best time to visit Spain?

Spain by region in one view

Spain's weather differs by region more than most visitors expect. The north coast is mild and wet, the interior has hot summers and cold winters, the Mediterranean coast and the islands are warm for much of the year, and the Canaries stay mild through winter. The best month therefore depends on which Spain you mean.

This page uses 1981 to 2010 monthly averages for seven stations that AEMET, Spain's state meteorological agency, supplies to the WMO: Bilbao for the Atlantic north, Madrid for the interior, Sevilla and Malaga for Andalusia, Barcelona for the north-east Mediterranean coast, Palma for the Balearics and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the Canaries. We add AEMET's own monthly summaries for August 2025 and July 2026 to show how hot recent summers have been.

The seasonal outline from the tourist board

Spain's official tourism site gives country-wide patterns. It says the country enjoys around 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, that the mildest temperatures are in spring and autumn, that July and August bring the maximum temperatures and that December to February are the coldest months. It adds that June to September are the hottest and driest months, with daytime temperatures usually over 30 degrees Celsius and inland and southern areas often staying above 20 at night, while the north is milder and cooler.

On rain, the site says winter is the wettest period, mainly in the north, that spring brings occasional brief but intense showers and that autumn can bring storms. It also notes some summer rain in Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. For the Canary Islands it describes winter as very different from the mainland, with a light jacket generally enough.

AEMET reports mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands separately in its monthly climate summaries, which is a useful reminder that a single national figure hides large differences. The sections below follow the same split.

Atlantic north: Bilbao

Bilbao is the wettest and mildest-summer station here. Its average high is only 26.0 degrees Celsius in August, the warmest month, against 35.5 in Sevilla. Rain falls on 11.6 to 16.4 days every month, from 50.5 mm in July to 147.4 mm in November, and January also averages 121.5 mm.

That makes the north a sensible choice when heat is the concern, and the tourist board agrees that the north is milder and cooler in summer. The trade-off is that rain is possible in any month, so plan for changeable days rather than a dry season.

Interior plateau: Madrid

Madrid has the widest seasonal swing of the mainland stations. January averages 9.8 degrees Celsius by day and 2.7 at night, July 32.1 by day and 19.0 at night. Rain is lowest in summer, at 11.7 mm in July and 9.6 mm in August, and highest in October at 59.5 mm, with spring months of 45.3 and 50.5 mm for April and May.

Spring and autumn are therefore the milder windows for sightseeing in Madrid, with warm days and less heat than July or August. Winter nights average only a few degrees above freezing, so pack for a cold start in December to February.

Andalusia: Sevilla and Malaga

Sevilla is the hottest station on this page: average highs reach 36.0 degrees Celsius in July and 35.5 in August, with lows near 20.6. Rain is almost absent in summer (2.4 mm in July on 0.4 days) and peaks in December at 99.0 mm. Spring is the milder window: April averages 23.4 and May 27.2.

Malaga on the Costa del Sol is milder in both seasons. July averages 30.5 by day and August 30.8, and January is 16.8 by day with a low of 7.4. It is also very dry in summer (0.4 mm in July) and wettest in November at 100.5 mm. That winter mildness makes the Costa del Sol a candidate for a long winter stay: see our note on winter long stays and our stays in Malaga.

North-east Mediterranean: Barcelona

Barcelona's summers are warm rather than extreme: 28.0 degrees Celsius by day in July and 28.5 in August, with warm nights of 20.2. Its wettest period is autumn, with 81.0 mm in September and 91.0 mm in October, and July is the driest month at 20.7 mm. Winter days average 13.6 degrees in January.

That makes late spring and early autumn pleasant for a city stay in Barcelona, although the autumn peak means September and October are not the driest choice. The sea is a draw in summer, but this page has no sea-temperature source, so look at a marine forecast for water conditions.

Balearic Islands: Palma

Palma is warm and dry in summer, with average highs of 31.2 degrees Celsius in July and 31.3 in August and rain of 5.2 mm in July, the driest month. Rain returns in autumn, peaking in October at 62.4 mm. Winters are cool but not cold, with a January average of 15.2 by day and 3.8 at night.

Majorca therefore has a long warm season, with shoulder months of May, June and September when highs are 23.7, 28.1 and 27.9 degrees. Palma is on the south-west coast, so the island's other coasts can differ from these averages.

Canary Islands: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The Canaries have the flattest temperature curve of any station here: average highs run from 20.8 degrees Celsius in January to 27.5 in August, and average lows from 15.0 to 21.6. January's 20.8 compares with 9.8 in Madrid, an 11 degree gap. Rain is light and mostly in winter: December is the wettest at 31.3 mm, and July the driest at 0.1 mm.

This is why the islands are a winter-sun choice and why summer is not as hot as on the mainland. Las Palmas is a coastal station on the island's north-east, so conditions inland, at altitude and on other islands such as Tenerife differ.

Recent summer heat, from AEMET

AEMET's monthly summaries show how heat has recently exceeded the long-run averages above. Its August 2025 summary gives a mainland mean temperature of 25.0 degrees Celsius, 2.0 above the 1991 to 2020 average for the month, and calls it, with August 2024, the warmest August since the series began in 1961. The Balearic Islands were 0.8 above average at 26.4 and the Canaries 1.3 above at 24.4. A prolonged warm episode ran from 3 to 18 August, and the highest reading among the main stations was 45.8 degrees at Jerez de la Frontera airport on 17 August.

The July 2026 summary reports a mainland mean of 25.7 degrees, 2.6 above the 1991 to 2020 average, tied with July 2022 as the warmest July on the record since 1961. The Balearic Islands averaged 28.1, which is 3.0 above, and the Canaries 23.5, which is 1.2 above. Among the main stations, Murcia recorded 44.2 degrees on 23 July.

These are past months, not forecasts. The 1981 to 2010 tables above cover an earlier period than AEMET's anomalies, so recent summers can be hotter than the tables suggest. If heat is a concern, July and August are the months to weigh carefully in inland and southern Spain. Check AEMET warnings for the dates of your trip.

Best months by purpose

The list is our selection from the tables and sources above, based on weather alone and ignoring prices, crowds and events. It is not a ranking.

• City sightseeing in Madrid or Sevilla: April, May and October, when Madrid highs are 18.2 to 22.2 and Sevilla highs are 23.4, 27.2 and 26.0, against 32.1 and 36.0 in July.
• Beach weather on the Mediterranean: June to September, with July rain of 0.4 mm in Malaga and 5.2 mm in Palma; the tourist board gives June to September as the hottest and driest period.
• Winter sun: the Canaries, where Las Palmas averages 20.8 degrees Celsius by day in January, or the Costa del Sol, where Malaga averages 16.8.
• Cooler summer: the Atlantic north, where Bilbao's August high is 26.0 degrees, though rain is possible every month.
• Lowest rain in the north-east: July in Barcelona at 20.7 mm, with September and October the wetter months.

Shoulder seasons and planning notes

The shoulder months are spring (April and May) and autumn (September and October). On the mainland they sit between the cold of winter and the heat of July and August: Madrid's May high of 22.2 degrees Celsius is 9.9 below July, while Malaga's October high is 24.1. On the islands the warm season extends: Palma still reaches 27.9 in September.

For a longer stay, an apartment-style base with a kitchen works well in any region, and winter on the south coast or the Canaries is a common choice for longer stays. See our overview of aparthotels in Europe. We have not included festival or holiday dates because we did not read them on an official page; check the regional tourist board for the year you travel.