When you travel to Spain, the time of the year can make a big difference. Here we are going to recommend you our tips for each season of the year, as well as a selection of festivals in Spain that you should not miss. We are sure that our Local in Destination Experts in Spain will know how to elaborate a travel itinerary to get the most out of your trip, whenever it is!
About the weather in Spain
The first thing you need to know about the best season to visit Spain is that the meteorological differences are significant between the north, the south, the center, the east… Although the peninsula is located in a temperate zone, the varied orography of Spain and its geographical situation make the country have a remarkable climatic diversity in every season of the year.
Many people do not know that there are four different climates in Spain: Mediterranean, oceanic, continental and high mountain. Therefore, it is easy that, for example, in summer, we go from mild temperatures between 20 and 25º in the north to others that can exceed 40º in the south. Likewise, rainfall is abundant in areas of oceanic influence (as in the Cantabrian coast), while some southern Mediterranean areas may be anecdotal (as in Almeria). And yes, friends, it is cold in winter in Spain, and it also snows a lot!
So, please don’t get carried away by the stereotype that Spain is all sun and beach… because yes, it is sunny and there are many beaches. Still, depending on the area you visit and the time of year, it can be essential to pack a good raincoat and warm clothes in your suitcase.
Festivities & Parties
New Year’s Eve in Madrid, the Carnivals in Tenerife or Cadiz, the Fallas in Valencia, the Easter celebrations, San Fermin, and the numerous summer festivals throughout the country. Spain is a party! And you won’t have a chance to get bored, because even when it’s not a holiday, the joy of life is palpable in the daily life of the Spaniards.
Religious, pagan, gastronomic… The Spanish Tourism website officially lists more than 250 festivals. Many of them are of cultural interest. But among them all, at Baboo, we have selected ten festivals that we believe you should not miss at different times of the year.
NEW YEAR'S EVE
At midnight, Spanish families eat the 12 lucky grapes during the chimes that signal the year’s change. According to tradition, those who eat the grapes on time will have 12 months of prosperity in the coming year. This custom dates back to the early twentieth century when it is said that there was a surplus of grapes in the country.
It is also usually celebrated in the street, in certain places in each town, such as town hall squares or main squares whenever there is a clock, being the Puerta del Sol is one of the most crowded scenarios in Madrid.
CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN BLOOM
As in Japan, in the Jerte Valley, in Extremadura, the cherry blossom is celebrated every year with various events. However, it occurs only for a couple of weeks a year and usually between the end of March and April, depending on the weather conditions. Then, the valley’s mountains are completely white with cherry blossoms.
During these days, exhibitions, medieval markets, verbenas, routes, or tastings, among other activities, are organized in the villages that make up the valley.
EASTER IN SEVILLE
Easter in Seville has been celebrated since the 16th century and is universally famous. Around 50,000 people dress as Nazarenes (yes, they may look like the Ku Klux Klan) to parade in the 58 processions that are organized, while the “costaleros” carry the “pasos” (religious images) on their backs. Every day there are afternoon and evening processions. It is inspiring to listen to the saetas in the parades: the flamenco songs that people sing a capella from the balconies in honor of the images.
BATTLE OF THE WINE
The Rioja town of Haro celebrates a curious festival on June 29th: the Battle of the Wine. After a mass, this peaceful fight begins between two sides in which the participants throw liters of wine at each other without rest. It is an impressive spectacle that ends at noon.
INTERNATIONAL CELTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL
It is one of the most multitudinous macro-festivals in Spain and a world reference for folk music. Focused on Celtic sounds, this free event held outdoors in Ortigueira, in the province of A Coruña (Galicia), attracts thousands of people every year.
SAN FERMÍN
The city of Pamplona is known worldwide thanks to the San Fermin festival. Every year, thousands of people come to experience the risk and excitement of its popular running of the bulls, immortalized forever by Ernest Hemingway in his novel Fiesta. For nine days, dressed in the typical red and white costumes, locals and visitors are carried away by the festive spirit that constantly invades the streets.
RAPA DAS BESTAS
This festival is celebrated every first week of July and dates back to the 15th century. Its protagonist is the noble confrontation between man and horse. During the festival, the young people of Sabucedo and its surroundings (Pontevedra, in Galicia) set off for the mountains at dawn. Their objective is to locate the horses that live in freedom in those lands, gather them in the village and shave them. At nightfall, everyone concludes to enjoy food, music, and wine.
BONFIRES OF SAN JUAN
Alicante celebrates the arrival of summer with the Bonfires of San Juan. Surrounded by music, color, gunpowder, and spectacle, thousands of people take to the streets to experience this festival that worships fire.
To celebrate the arrival of summer, the people of Alicante traditionally went to the countryside for dinner on June 23rd: they ate typical products, and when midnight came, they lit bonfires, danced around them, launched rockets, and bathed in the sea. This custom was maintained over time, and in 1928 it was formally constituted as the Bonfires of San Juan festivities.
TOMATINA
The origin of this multitudinous “battle” of tomatoes goes back to a juvenile fight in 1945, and, since then, it has not ceased to be celebrated any year.
La Tomatina is celebrated on the last Wednesday of August in the Valencian town of Buñol. This peculiar festival brings together every year a multitude of people willing to have a good time of laughter and fun based on tomatazos.
