Best climate in Spain: pleasant all year round, ranked
Everyone says the Canaries or Málaga. We measured it for all 333 towns of 25,000 or more: how many months a year are pleasant, and what is the catch?
Short answer: 11 towns in Spain have pleasant afternoons in all twelve months, and all of them are on the Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife): Adeje, Arona*, Arucas, Granadilla de Abona*, Gáldar, La Oliva, La Orotava, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Los Realejos, Puerto de la Cruz, Puerto del Rosario. Outside the Canaries, Estepona and Marbella come closest, with 8 pleasant months and other months that are only a little too cool. The typical Spanish town has 5.
“Pleasant” here means an average afternoon high between 18°C and 28°C: warm enough to sit outside, not so hot that you hide indoors. For the other months we add up how far they fall outside: a January at 16°C is 2 °C too cool, an August at 33°C is 5 °C too hot. The lower the total, the better: the 11 twelve-month towns add up to 0, the median Spanish town to 16 °C and the coldest inland towns to as much as 45 °C. We did this for all 333 places, with AEMET's 1991-2020 station averages; the 52 places without a station of their own nearby are estimated from the three nearest stations (marked *).
Average afternoon high, month by month
Pleasant all year round: the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands sit in the Atlantic trade winds at the latitude of the Sahara. The sea keeps their January afternoons around 19.5°C and their August afternoons between 24.7°C and 27.9°C. No town outside the Canaries manages both: none has January afternoons of 18°C or more together with August afternoons of 28°C or less.
| Place | Region | Pleasant months | Degrees outside the band | Jan high | Jan low | Aug high | Aug dew point | Sun per day | Rainy days / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adeje | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 20.6°C | 13.6°C | 27.3°C | 18.1°C | 7.9 h | 14 |
| Arona* | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 18.2°C | 11.3°C | 24.7°C | 15.1°C | 7.9 h | 18 |
| Arucas | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 18.8°C | 13.5°C | 25.3°C | 19.0°C | 5.4 h | 40 |
| Granadilla de Abona* | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 18.2°C | 11.2°C | 24.7°C | 15.1°C | 7.9 h | 16 |
| Gáldar | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 19.7°C | 14.4°C | 26.2°C | 19.0°C | 5.4 h | 40 |
| La Oliva | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 19.5°C | 13.6°C | 26.6°C | 19.2°C | 8.0 h | 14 |
| La Orotava | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 19.1°C | 12.3°C | 25.0°C | 15.1°C | 6.4 h | 54 |
| Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 20.2°C | 14.9°C | 26.7°C | 19.0°C | 5.4 h | 40 |
| Los Realejos | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 19.2°C | 12.4°C | 25.1°C | 15.1°C | 6.4 h | 54 |
| Puerto de la Cruz | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 21.3°C | 15.1°C | 26.6°C | 19.4°C | 6.4 h | 34 |
| Puerto del Rosario | Canary Islands | 12 | 0.0 °C | 20.8°C | 14.9°C | 27.9°C | 19.2°C | 8.0 h | 14 |
| Agüimes | Canary Islands | 11 | 0.3 °C | 19.0°C | 12.8°C | 28.3°C | 17.9°C | 7.7 h | 35 |
| Ingenio | Canary Islands | 11 | 0.4 °C | 19.1°C | 12.9°C | 28.4°C | 17.9°C | 7.7 h | 35 |
| Telde | Canary Islands | 10 | 1.8 °C | 19.9°C | 13.7°C | 29.2°C | 19.0°C | 5.4 h | 35 |
| San Cristóbal de La Laguna | Canary Islands | 9 | 2.0 °C | 16.8°C | 10.8°C | 26.4°C | 15.1°C | 6.4 h | 62 |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife | Canary Islands | 9 | 2.3 °C | 21.1°C | 15.5°C | 29.3°C | 17.2°C | 8.2 h | 28 |
The best climate on the mainland and the Balearics
The five best places outside the Canaries are all on the coast of the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz. Their weak spot is winter: the top five have on average 3.4 months a year below 18°C. Málaga city has slightly warmer January afternoons (18.0°C) but hot summers: its August afternoons average 32.3°C, against 27.0°C in Marbella. The best place on the Balearic Islands is Eivissa, with 6 pleasant months.
| Place | Region | Pleasant months | Degrees outside the band | Jan high | Jan low | Aug high | Aug dew point | Sun per day | Rainy days / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estepona | Andalusia | 8 | 2.6 °C | 17.0°C | 10.0°C | 27.0°C | 19.3°C | – | 43 |
| Marbella | Andalusia | 8 | 2.6 °C | 17.0°C | 10.0°C | 27.0°C | 18.2°C | – | 43 |
| Fuengirola | Andalusia | 7 | 3.2 °C | 17.2°C | 11.3°C | 28.9°C | 18.2°C | 8.1 h | 42 |
| Cádiz | Andalusia | 8 | 4.4 °C | 16.1°C | 9.4°C | 28.1°C | 19.0°C | 8.5 h | 51 |
| Puerto Real | Andalusia | 8 | 4.4 °C | 16.1°C | 9.4°C | 28.1°C | 19.0°C | 8.5 h | 51 |
| Melilla | Melilla | 8 | 4.6 °C | 17.2°C | 10.5°C | 29.9°C | 20.2°C | 7.5 h | 42 |
| La Línea de la Concepción* | Andalusia | 8 | 4.7 °C | 16.3°C | 10.9°C | 27.3°C | 19.3°C | – | 55 |
| Vélez-Málaga | Andalusia | 7 | 5.1 °C | 17.1°C | 8.4°C | 29.8°C | 18.2°C | 8.1 h | 41 |
| Almuñécar | Andalusia | 8 | 5.6 °C | 17.8°C | 10.9°C | 30.9°C | – | – | 44 |
| Ceuta | Ceuta | 7 | 5.6 °C | 16.8°C | 11.8°C | 29.4°C | 19.3°C | – | – |
| Motril* | Andalusia | 7 | 5.7 °C | 17.7°C | 10.0°C | 30.8°C | – | – | 41 |
| Chiclana de la Frontera | Andalusia | 7 | 6.2 °C | 15.8°C | 9.1°C | 29.0°C | 19.0°C | 8.5 h | 49 |
The best climate in northern Spain
The north has mild summers but winters that are too cool for this measure. The five best northern places, Cangas, Redondela, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Ribeira, Vigo, have 7 pleasant months, with January afternoons around 13.8°C and about 126 rainy days a year. In return, August afternoons stay around 26.8°C. See the north is not one climate.
Pleasant months per year, by region (median of the towns)
The catch: humid summers and warm nights
A pleasant afternoon is not the whole story. The sea that keeps the coast mild also makes it humid: 7 of the 11 twelve-month towns have an August dew point of 18 °C or more, which feels oppressive. And the nights stay warm: Puerto del Rosario has 117, Puerto de la Cruz has 108, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has 100 nights a year that stay at 20 °C (68 °F) or above. At the other end, Arona* has 0, Granadilla de Abona* has 0, La Orotava has 1. See the hidden cost of a beach summer.
Will it still be the best climate around 2055?
The official projections (SSP2-4.5) warm the August afternoons of the twelve-month towns by a median 0.7 °C. That pushes August above 28°C in 3 of them: Adeje, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Puerto del Rosario. More in Spain around 2055.
* Estimated from the three nearest weather stations: no station of its own within 25 km at a similar altitude. Tested on towns that do have a station, such estimates are off by about 1 °C on average. Figures are for each town's centre; in Arona (623 m), Granadilla de Abona (642 m), La Orotava (341 m), Los Realejos (332 m), San Cristóbal de La Laguna (558 m) the centre lies well above the coast, which has milder winters. Some towns use a station more than 15 km away: Adeje: Tenerife Sur Aeropuerto, 18 km; Gáldar: Las Palmas De G.C. (Tafira Cmt), 21 km; La Oliva: Fuerteventura Aeropuerto, 20 km; La Orotava: Tacoronte, 15 km; Los Realejos: Tacoronte, 20 km; Estepona: Marbella, Puerto, 18 km. Find your own balance on the compare page with the sliders for mild winters, cool summers and dry summers.
How we did this
AEMET 1991-2020 station averages for all 333 places: the town's own station within 25 km and at a similar altitude, or (*) the distance-weighted average of the three nearest stations; temperatures adjusted to the town's altitude. A month counts as pleasant when its average daily high is between 18 and 28 °C. The ranking adds up, over the year, how many degrees each month's average high falls below or above that band; ties are broken by the number of pleasant months. Dew point from measured humidity at the station or a nearby one. 2055: Escenarios-PNACC 2024, scenario SSP2-4.5, median of 11 models: change from 2011-2040 to 2041-2070 added to the station average. Built 2026-10-18.