Spain in Springtime...weather?

Jerry, I was just in much of Spain, April 11 through May 7. Weather was very nice throughout, spring-like. Never cold, and never really hot, although perhaps above 80F during the days in Andalusia near the end of the trip. A few raindrops here and there, but no real rain storms. A great time for Spain in my book, enjoy it!

We were there a few years ago in late April and froze. I had shipped home my wintery clothes from Paris and had mostly lightweight things expecting it to be hot or at least warm. Luckily I had left my silks in the suitcase because I needed to wear them under my linen slacks and lightweight tops. We were very chilly end of April through beginning of May for nearly 3 weeks. I doubt if it will be hot; it may be pleasant and warm -- but you may have our luck and find it a lot chillier than you expect.

We were there last week of march, first week of April... from Gibraltar to San Sebastian. The weather was nice - cool, I wore jeans and a light sweater. Some nights (and days) were colder and I wore a jacket and hat. It was warm some days too, but not hot. Layers! And it rained a bit as well.

Enjoy!

It depends more on the room you get. If you have full sun in the afternoon, it may take a long time for the room to cool off and be comfortable at night. But that's rare and you can always ask for a different room.

That's a much too generic question. Spain has four different climates due to its location and orography and then, the weather is variable from year to year. In Barcelona for example, in 2010 in March we had snow while this year is been mid 70's. Furthermore, it's not the same whether if you refer to a seaside city or to a city located in say the Pyrenees (up to 10000 ft high) or whether it's a more north/northwest area (where rain is common in Spring) or a south/southeast area (where it's not so much), etc. Thus, I don't think it's good advice to generalize.

It's best to check the meteo service for each different area you intend to visit a few days before you do so. And, obviously, the most accurate services are those local: www.aemet.es for most of Spain and www.meteo.cat for Catalonia in particular.

Enjoy!

I understood that the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain? Am I wrong?

I just got back from there last Friday, and have been in April two other times, too. I think it's the best time of year to visit. I live in central IL and find the weather mostly the same as here at that time - 50s and 60s and sunny. This trip, a lot of areas that don't usually get a lot of rain were getting doused, like Malaga, but in Madrid and north it was great. The spring flowers are in bloom all over, and later in the spring and summer everything will begin to get brown and dry. But Enric is right - it's a big and changeable place, no universal answer.

No Emily, the Mediterranean coast also gets its fair share of downpours in Apr/May and in Sep/Oct... in Catalan for example, we have many popular sayings about this.

I must say though I completely agree with Nancy, for me too, the best time to visit -at least my turf, Catalonia- is in late April and/or in late Sept. These are both times in which the temperature is still bearable if hot. Also, during the day short sleeves can be worn and only in the evening one might need a sweater/light jacket. Again, this is Mediterranean coast I am talking. Weather is different in different parts of the Iberian peninsula.

But there are other reasons too:

• a bit less crowded, albeit we get tourism all year around, so don't be fooled with that, even in February -at least in Barcelona- we have plenty of tourists. Note there are exceptions here and there if major events/festivals are happening concurrently, then it can be packed as in July! See next.
• another reason for visitors could be: prices, as they might be slightly cheaper than in Jul/Aug but don't either be fooled with this because since many years ago, there's no high/low season... prices depend now on the "concurrent" events happening at any given time. Thus, in Sep there are several major events that make visiting Barcelona very popular, among which les festes de la Mercè, the celebration of our National Day (Sep 11th), and many major congresses so prices are not necessarily cheaper during those days. Same goes in February/March, a lot of international events happening. But then also when there's an international sports competition (namely football, basketball, motorcycles, F1, yatch...). So in short, note that prices can wildly vary from one week to the next.

Tip: When visiting Catalonia, and more concretely Barcelona, it's good to have a look at the agenda of events to have an idea -even if rough- on how busy can the tourist scene be. Another hint is when you get outrageous prices for hotels during a particular day/week. A good agenda, albeit not the only one!, is the one published by the City Hall here: http://lameva.barcelona.cat/en/

Poor Jerry. He just wanted to know if it was likely to be so hot that he'd need AC . . . .

Knowledge does not take up any space... or does it? LOL!

(Off topic - sorry to the OP)

Oh, Emily, now I have to convince my husband I have to see the movie again!!! He's going to kill me!!! I will say it's your fault.

I agree, it depends on where you are in Spain. We were just there April 22 to May 5. I was freezing in my winter jacket in Madrid, then sweating in shorts in Seville a few days later. We slept with the windows open in Granada it was comfortable.

If you want exact numbers, Weather.com has monthly forecasts based on previous averages. Just click on the 'Monthly' tab.

Thanks for all the great advice. Having never been to Spain, I do not know what to expect. I know it is a large country with many land features such as mountains and coastlines so it makes sense that it would have a variety of weather. I agree with the one comment that my greatest concern is that we may need air conditioning, even in Spain. If the weather is somewhat like Texas where we are, we could have the a/c on even in January. Ciao.

The short answer is: probably not, but maybe in one or two places. Which cities are you planning to visit?

My two cents, if you're visiting anywhere in Catalonia (Barcelona, Cadaqués, Tarragona, Costa Brava, etc) , you can use www.meteo.cat, the Catalan National Weather Service. It's pretty accurate. The drawback is that the website is only in Catalan, but it's pretty visual so just insert the name of the town/city you want the forecast for and a couple of charts will show you the forecast by hour for the next two days and the forecast by day for the next 8 days, including max/min temperature and probability of rain (blue bars). Note that most "rain" in the Mediterranean means short downpours (30-60' tops) and then it stops. We have a handful of days in which the weather remains miserable all day long, but that's not the norm.

There is so much to see in Spain that it is difficult to decide where to go and what to see in a 2 week time period. I think we may wish to use public transportation rather than renting a car so that may limit where we go. I would definitely like to go to Barcelona, Madrid, and westward toward the White Cities area. I am just beginning the research and have made no reservations at all so the trip is just in the beginning stages. Thanks for the suggestions about the weather. That is very helpful.

I think we may wish to use public transportation rather than renting a car so that may limit where we go.
I would definitely like to go to Barcelona, Madrid, and westward toward the White Cities area. Much of Spain is easy to see using high-speed trains, other parts are easier with not-so-high-speed trains or buses than driving. However, for the pueblos blancos (white hill towns) you really need a car. It's pretty easy driving, especially if you plan to visit Cordoba and/or Seville and Malaga and/or Granada. Pick up a car for 2-3 days at one end and drop it at the other.

There is so much to see in Spain that it is difficult to decide where to go and what to see in a 2 week time period. Whatever you don't see this time will be there for next time too. I don't see how anyone can go to Spain just once. My "classic 2-week trip" recommendation would be Barcelona > Granada (flight) > Seville/Cordoba > Madrid/Toledo. You could probably squeeze in 2 days through the pueblos blancos by car from Granada. If you skip Granada, there are lots of other options.

Semana Santa (Easter week) is huge in Andalucia - April 9-16. It's very special but there will be big, big crowds (not horribly so) and high season prices. Madrid and especially Barcelona are not much affected. You can choose to be part of it or to avoid it.

What are your possible departure airports? Is either Seville or Malaga a possibility.

Normally the weather is pretty nice in Southern Spain during April but even that can't always be relied on. We spent all of April in Spain (2012). When we started it was 60's and sunny in Barcelona but quickly turned cold and rainy. Two weeks in it was still cold. We drove through a snow storm between Jaen and Granada, toured the Alhambra in low 30's plus high wind chill.

It got better, but not really warm as we continued through Ronda, Seville and up toward Madrid. We never wanted AC the entire trip. Everyone apologized for the unseasonable weather.

A week later, another person on this site experienced 90 degree weather where we had seen 50's. It can and does change but generally, April is a great month to plan. Whether or not it's warm, there are great festivals during April (Semana Santa, April Faire in Seville) that I wouldn't miss.

Haha, Brad, that was me! But it was actually over 100 degrees every day that we were in Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. I flew home that year on May 8.