My wife and I are daydreaming about trips and the topic came up of off-season travel in Spain. Southern Spain (specifically Seville, Granada, Cordoba) are where our interests lie. Looking at what I can find on the web, it seems like the climate is a lot like home for us (being from Florida) in the winter months. From those with experience, is this true? (For those not from Florida, our Decembers are usually between 40 and 60 degrees F with a little rain but very rarely any snow - in N FL) Also, with Andalusia being more religious than many other parts of Europe, how is it around the holiday season (i.e. the week before/including Christmas). Is everything shut down as people observe Christmas or is everything open except for Christmas Day? We're just in the curiosity part of planning right now, so we haven't bought the RS book and I know there are those on the board that are a lot more reliable that many parts of the web, so we thought we'd start here first.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Last year we left Denver the day after Christmas and returned on the sixth of January. Into Madrid and home from Malaga and saw Cordoba, Sevilla, and Granada. It was cool and rainy most of the time. Some days were nice but often would be partly sunny for a while and then it would rain some. Never heavy but a drizzle to bit more. Always had the rain jackets and umbrella. Madrid being further north was fairly cold similar to Denver weather but with higher humidity. We were prepared with laid clothing, waterproof footwear, rain gear so we had no problem with the weather. One day in Granada did rain constantly all day. On New Years Eve everything shut about 4 pm and remained closed through New Year's Day. There was no NY eve celebration similar to the US. We were in Sevilla. Christmas was very different from the Germanic Christmas which is more common in the US. But all in all a very enjoy trip with min crowd except for the Alhambra in Granada.
Posted by
Malaga, Malaga, Spain
410 posts
We live in southern Spain and it can be quite cold in winter. We are Austalian so I guess cold is relative! Of the 3 biggest cities, Seville will be the warmest - we spent 2 weeks there over Xmas/New Year several years ago and it was quite mild - we often ate lunch or had coffees outside during the day but was too cold to use the terrace at the apartment we had rented. Granada is quite close to the Sierra Nevadas and will be quite cold. Where we live - inland from Malaga, we generally have the fire on from November through to about March. Some days are lovely and sunny, many overcast and raining. I wouldn't have thought it nearly as mild as Florida but I can only relate to celcius temps! Re Xmas - the spanish do not celebrate Xmas nearly as much as other parts of Europe and they are nowhere near as religious as people think - their big celebration is 6th January - Festival of the 3 Kings. We found in Seville that everything was open as usual over that period, including Xmas Day...only exception was New Years Eve, where most restaurants were booked for private parties. That said, this last NYE we were in Jerez, which was basically closed! Local restaurants and bars near where we live are all open Xmas Day. Spain is wonderful anytime of the year, but of course I am biased.