# Million dollar question. Where is warm in Spain in Dec.



## Dezbo101 (May 24, 2014)

I'm sure this has been asked a million times but it's always nice to get a new perspective (and I'm a newbie).

Where is warm in Spain during December and January. We plan to stay long-ish in a site over Christmas and New Year in our camper-van. Somewhere warm and near a town which will be open/active over the season. Benidorm is the obvious choice but is it that hot or do I need to go further down?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

Anywhere from around Valencia downwards... If you look at campsite opening times the one's further north are usually closed Nov - Easter.

Benidorm is maybe the most popular and lots to do. 
However even here ( currently sat on the balcony lol ) it does get cold at night in winter and temperatures can get down real low... 
You need to be prepared with heating and some warm clothes....

Never done further south but sure others will comment and give more info... Back in March this year near Gibraltar by 5pm people were in their vans as once the sun dropped it gets chilly...


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## readyforoff (Dec 28, 2013)

Nowhere is hot , just pleasantly warm. Anywhere at sea level. Anywhere else it's freezing overnight. Most of the interior is at unexpected altitude and therefore quite cold. I motorcycle down either Feb or March and it can be darn cold.......


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

If you want it warmer I would go further south they had snow last winter near Benidorm my friend who was parked there informed me. We where down at Torre del Mar and it has never snowed there while we have been there.

But if you want night life etc then go to Benidorm.

Don't get to far from the coast. It still get cold at night where ever you are.

Andy


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## Garcia (Mar 5, 2010)

Well, I've done a lot of Dec / Jans in southern Spain and , IMO, without any doubt the best bit is the coast from Cartagena down to Roquetas. Protected from the westerlies , it's far enough south to be pleasantly warm, if not hot.
There's enough sites and wild spots to keep you occupied. 
Go too far south and west (Tarifa) and unless you're into wind surfing, it's too wild for me. The main southern resorts are, simply, too developed for my taste. Tho you'll find many vans down there from all over Europe. A day or two passing through the likes of Malaga etc is enough for me.
Recently I've been well impressed with the eastern Algarve in Portugal. Not as warm as that southern/ eastern bit of Spain . Sometimes wet but mild and HALF THE PRICE. Spain is really getting pricey , IMO. Portugal helps my pension go a lot further!
Garcia


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

We (I) have chosen Albufeira next Dec/Jan in the hope it will be comfortably warm for our 50th. anniversary. Many people indicated the southern coast of Portugal being the best climate.

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Having spent winters near Cartagena and one winter near Vinaros I can say the Cartagena is a couple of degrees warmer but the difference isn't huge, so for me anywhere from Vinaros down to a bit beyond Almeria. After Malaga you are moving towards the weather coming off the Atlantic which the Algarve sometimes gets in winter.

You can Google for weather stats for all these places and see for yourself how much sunshine, what av. temps. are, how many days with rain and total monthly rainfall figures then decide for yourself. Personally I wouldn't dream of going to the Algarve in December, Alan.


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## Garcia (Mar 5, 2010)

raynipper said:


> We (I) have chosen Albufeira next Dec/Jan in the hope it will be comfortably warm for our 50th. anniversary. Many people indicated the southern coast of Portugal being the best climate.
> 
> Ray.


There's an Aire in Albu. OK....not great..there were a few long stayers when we were there.......fair old walk to the old town....good enough dog walking outside . It's basically the old stade ...there's not much nearby in terms of shops /bars etc.

Personnally prefer further EAST towards Tavira...........

In Spain....IMO......get as far north as Benidorm and the weather gets dodgy in winter. Benicassim is OK for an overnighter, but wouldn't want to stop more than a coupla days.....Tho there's a few on here that love it at Benicassim.....Takes all sorts methinks..........

Garcia


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Takes all sorts is right.

There is the sort who knows the facts because they bothered to check and the sort who make comments based on what they think or expect to be the case.

Here are the facts.

From http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=33480&cityname=Cartagena-Spain you will find Castellon La plana listed in the index so you can do your own comparison.

Cartagena has an average temperature in December of 12 degrees and rainfall of 20mm falling on average in 2 days when there is some rain.

Castellon La Plana (near Vinaros) has an average temperature in December of 11.4 degrees and rainfall of 46mm falling on average on 6 days when there is some rain.

So as I said the difference in temperature is minimal, 0.6mm on average overall and the average highs are 15.9 and 17 degrees, a difference of 1.1 degrees which would be barely noticeable. There is a little more rain at Vinaros but it's still minimal, less than 2 inches for the whole of the month of December at Castellon.

I hope that helps Garcia.


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## Garcia (Mar 5, 2010)

*Unite happy*

I'm not sure it helps me.....like I said .........IMO......I've been down there and there abouts for years....can't quite see why you seem to be getting so aggressive and upset.....I merely expressed an opinion that the better weather was between Cartagena and Roquetas. .......IMO ......I'm quite happy if you or others find it better elsewhere. 
Garcia


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Knowing the facts is always useful I think. Facts provide a pretty good basis for answering questions and since the OP asked how far down he would have to go for warmth I answered it, factually and not by giving my opinion on the basis of what I fancied might be true.

You said Benicassim gets dodgy in winter and I pointed out that that area is not at all dodgy in winter.

Yes I was annoyed at your "takes all sorts" remark because it was attached to your ill informed contradiction of the information I gave and therefore could be read as being aimed at me regardless of whatever you thought you meant by it, Alan.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

erneboy said:


> Having spent winters near Cartagena and one winter near Vinaros I can say the Cartagena is a couple of degrees warmer but the difference isn't huge, so for me anywhere from Vinaros down to a bit beyond Almeria. After Malaga you are moving towards the weather coming off the Atlantic which the Algarve sometimes gets in winter.
> 
> You can Google for weather stats for all these places and see for yourself how much sunshine, what av. temps. are, how many days with rain and total monthly rainfall figures then decide for yourself. Personally I wouldn't dream of going to the Algarve in December, Alan.


Now you tell me Alan........................ it's all booked.

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Algarve temperatures aren't too bad Ray. Average 14 degrees, average high 17 degrees, but you can expect 100mm of rain to fall over 12 days with some rain. So much of the south and east coast of Spain is a good deal drier. It is also considerably less windy in December, Alan.


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

When it rains in Spain - it is a pain (wherever) - BUT Benicassim is 'open' all year, its not a touristy 'beer, bingo & fish &chips' sort of town, its definitely a Spanish town with its own spanish lifestyle, thats not to say there 'ain't beer,bingo or f&chips !
The couple of campsites are acceptable (if not very modern facilities) but they are clean & heated,: 'Bonterra' is the more expensive whilst Azahar is the more laid back.
As for the weather, we've had absolutely fantastic weather right up to xmas,new year & January . . There again, we've seen intervals of crap weather too . . I'm afraid it can't be ordered or switched on/off (its all down to (a) common market, (b) global warming so take your pick but its certainty not been as good as 2-3 years ago . . Infact tell me where has !
Good train/bus infrastructure to get around & out of town & to Castillion & Valencia.
In my opinion its good for slightly longer that just a few days . . More like good for 2 or 3 Months 8)


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## cavaqueen (Mar 27, 2006)

Hi there,

We have stayed at camping Marjal in Guardamar de Segura for the last 6 winters, no complaints from us, nearly every year we have a few drinks on the terrace on Christmas day.

The temperature does drop at night , but it is still much warmer than it is at home.

Last winter we only used 6 bottles of gas @ 17 euros each, for heating & cooking, and that was over a 7 month period, imagine how much heating would cost you in the UK over the same period !!!!

Cavaqueen


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

We used to winter in Portugal but the rain is a problem at that time of year, we now go no further down than the Murcia area but we do miss Portugal and the prices.


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## peaky (Jul 15, 2009)

Ive just got back from Portugal, we stayed on the Algarve from nov to april, up to December , around the portimao area we had hot sunny days and some frosty nights (we were assured this was not a regular occurrence ) Christmas day was pretty bleak as it rained non stop, come January we had many wet days, we looked into better weather in spain but would have had to travel as far east as Granada to start with, but overall spains weather was no better than ours at the time, feb was a mixed bag but nights getting warmer, come march and april we had many sunny days but some torrential downpours in between , would I go again ?? sure you cant have wall to wall sunshine where ever you go I don't mind a bit of rain just not day in day out !! some nights were cold and we used our halogen heater a fair bit but and some mornings the vans temp said 5 degrees !! cold for us canarians !!! the locals said it had been a wet winter not usual for them , but I hear the canaries was unusually cold and dull this winter so weathers on the change everywhere. Ray honestly you will enjoy it !!!


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Last December was statistically unusual in that the total rainfall in Alicante was greater than in Faro.

One day, Christmas day accounts for most of the difference. It was wet in both Faro and Alicante. 2.03mm of rain fell in Faro and unusually 8.89mm fell in Alicante.

Over all in Faro during December 2013 10.4mm of rain fell over 8 days when it rained. There were 23 dry days.

Over all in Alicante during December 2013 16.5mm of rain fell over 3 days. There were 28 dry days.

So there was more rainfall in Spain but five fewer days when it rained.

People can judge wet and dry by their own criteria but for me a wet day is a day indoors and a dry day is a day outdoors. The quantity of rain that falls isn't very important to me. So I see 5 fewer wet days as a significant difference.

Information from here http://www.wunderground.com

Alan.


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## McGeemobile (Jun 10, 2010)

I agree that last winter was a poor one. We spent over 4 months in the Canaries and the weather from mid January to March was not as good as usual.
However in my experience I would agree that the weather in the corner of Spain from Alicante area down to Cartagena / Aguilas is one of the warmest and driest. When we used to overwinter in mainland Spain we rarely used campsites so moved around regularly and if the weather prediction for our location was poor we headed for what were forecasted as the warmest, driest areas. Many times we ended going back to this corner of Spain or even the city of Murcia which although colder at night can be a couple of degrees warmer than the coast by day.
Alan's research as always has been thorough.
Hopefully next winter might be a little better for all of us!


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

vicdicdoc said:


> When it rains in Spain - it is a pain (wherever) - BUT Benicassim is 'open' all year, its not a touristy 'beer, bingo & fish &chips' sort of town, its definitely a Spanish town with its own spanish lifestyle, thats not to say there 'ain't beer,bingo or f&chips !
> The couple of campsites are acceptable (if not very modern facilities) but they are clean & heated,: 'Bonterra' is the more expensive whilst Azahar is the more laid back.
> As for the weather, we've had absolutely fantastic weather right up to xmas,new year & January . . There again, we've seen intervals of crap weather too . . I'm afraid it can't be ordered or switched on/off (its all down to (a) common market, (b) global warming so take your pick but its certainty not been as good as 2-3 years ago . . Infact tell me where has !
> Good train/bus infrastructure to get around & out of town & to Castillion & Valencia.
> In my opinion its good for slightly longer that just a few days . . More like good for 2 or 3 Months 8)


"Azahar is the more laid back. "

But do you still get locked in or out at 10:30pm?

TM


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

> Last December was statistically unusual in that the total rainfall in Alicante was greater than in Faro.
> 
> One day, Christmas day accounts for most of the difference. It was wet in both Faro and Alicante. 2.03mm of rain fell in Faro and unusually 8.89mm fell in Alicante.
> 
> ...


Out of interest I went on to look at Castellon La Plana just for the sake of comparison. Last December it was not as wet as Alicante with just 8.13mm of rain falling over 3 days. It was 3 degrees cooler on average though.

It seems that the main difference going down towards the corner of Spain at Murcia/Cartagena is that you will be slightly warmer than you would nearer Castellon.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Very difficult to generalise anywhere.
Who would have though southern England would have been under water last Christmas. Exceptional.
Who would have though we would get 3ft. of snow the year befere. Exceptional.
Who would have though Italy and se France would get the floods the year before. Exceptional.

So I guess we just go and see.

Ray.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

> Very difficult to generalise anywhere.
> Who would have though southern England would have been under water last Christmas. Exceptional.
> Who would have though we would get 3ft. of snow the year befere. Exceptional.
> Who would have though Italy and se France would get the floods the year before. Exceptional.
> ...


Why not Ray? Many do got to Portugal because they prefer it to Spain, Alan.


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

I have always understood Almeria Provence to be be the driest region of Spain - in fact, as I understand, some parts are officially classified as 'desert'. 

When we were there a couple of weeks ago near Vera, I read in a regional tourist publication that Roquetas de Mar has the driest and sunniest climate in Spain. Whether that is true or accurate I do not know. But what I can say is that we have sunbathed in the buff in January in Roquestas for a week, when we were there a year or so back.

As Alan has indicated, factual historic statistics are a most valuable guide, but at the end of the day the weather can vary hugely from the average. So there will always be an element of luck in mainland Spain. 

Good luck wherever you decide to go.

Mike


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