Sorry if this has been done many times before! ......
Who spends December, January or February in Southern Spain? Recommendations and why, please? We live in Arles-sur-Tech near the Spanish border so haven't got so far to travel ... I thought it might be fun to winter as far South as possible but have no experience of Spanish sites ... we'd want to be on an ACSI site or two for the benefits and prefer somewhere with a bar and restaurant.
Today here we've just had an hour before lunch on sunloungers on the terrace, wife in bikini, so weather still quite good on November 9th ... had to come in because we got too hot! Not expecting it to last much longer as we're in the foothills of the Pyrenees. What are the temperatures like in S.Spain Dec/Jan/Feb?
Any advice gratefully received!
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We live in Almeria. Weather today is 22deg C, a brilliant blue sky and forecast to be the same all week. Evening temps down to about 6deg C, so central heating will have to be on.
Weather for the first three weeks in Jan are usually about 20deg C in the day and about 5deg C or so at night. Last week in Jan and all through Feb the weather is a bit mixed. A little bit of rain, a fair bit of cloud with day temps about 10 - 12 degrees C. Could also get some high winds end of Feb and all through March. We think it gets cold here during Feb and March, but we have been spoilt by the very high temperature during the remainder of the year. It's only when we go back to the UK when we realise our winters are not cold!
We have been over the Pyranees in December and January. I can assure you that the weather is far better down this part of Spain.
Thanks for that .... sounds to me like it's worth a try. I think we'll aim at going as far South as possible. Just looking on the internet I find a group called Camping Red Spain with great looking sites ... I must check to see if they're ACSI.
We've only been living here since June so haven't had a Winter yet! Temp gauge on the terrace was reading 25 in the shade at midday. The pros certainly outweigh the cons in this part of the world!
Just checked all their sites and the reviews ... they are all ACSI sites - the only one that stood out is called Pinar San Jose down near Cadiz somewhere ... all the others had problems of one sort or another, noise, poor facilities etc. They have a good website and all the sites look better than the reviews (!) but this one didn't have so many negatives ... and is about as far South as you can get!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Last winter we stayed at Camping Pinar San Jose, near Barbate on the Costa de la Luz - about as far south as you can get in Spain! It's a member of both the Camping Red group and ACSI. The area is beautiful, much less developed than other parts of the Spanish coast, and with lots of interesting places to visit in the vicinity such as Jerez and Cadiz. You can check it out in the review section.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
Sorry Bacchante, you must have been posting just before me so I didn't realise you'd already thought of Pinar San Jose! We've stayed on quite a few Spanish sites in winter and that was certainly one of our favourites.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
The weather can be very indifferent. Last time we did it we had horrendous storms and flooding. It was dreadful. Not to say it's always like that but it can be. That was Almeria.
Costa Blanca south, Alicante area, much drier in winter than the Costa Del Sol. Hardly rains, sunny most days, temps currently mid 20's in the day and 8-10C overnight. Best climate in Europe
Hi Bacchante. We are just down the road from you at the moment at Argeles Plage and its another beautiful day. Off to San Feliu de Guixols on Monday. Travel plans a bit delayed due to urgent visit to dentist on Monday morning!!
Basically we are going to follow things south!! We have ACSI Card and I have marked many of the sites on my map and we will go where our fancy and the weather takes us. We do not have to be home in Brittany till end of February.
How busy do people think the sites are going to be in Spain this winter? Will there be space for everyone judging by the number of campers heading south!!
Coming from north east Scotland we prefer to fly and rent accommodation near Malaga. Very reasonable for a month or more.
Weather has been around 20deg or just below in January with odd poor day.
We have looked at numerous sites around Malaga City and along coast both directions as well as inland. We have not found any of a standard we'd be relaxed on for a long stay. They tend to be Tarmac areas with units cheek by jowl. Not at all like pleasant ACSI sites in France and Northern Spain.
We will follow this topic with interest so please update with experiences.
------------- playing at tinkies
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We've decided to go 2nd week in January ... maybe a week Alicante way if we can find a nice one then down to Malaga to stay on one or more of the Camping Red sites for 3 weeks ... fingers crossed for the weather!
Thanks to contributors above! Maybe see some of you down there!
Quote: Originally posted by oxter on 12/12/2015
Coming from north east Scotland we prefer to fly and rent accommodation near Malaga. Very reasonable for a month or more.
Weather has been around 20deg or just below in January with odd poor day.
We have looked at numerous sites around Malaga City and along coast both directions as well as inland. We have not found any of a standard we'd be relaxed on for a long stay. They tend to be Tarmac areas with units cheek by jowl. Not at all like pleasant ACSI sites in France and Northern Spain.
We will follow this topic with interest so please update with experiences.
Oops! Sorry about mis-posting, pressed wrong button by mistake. In reply to Oxter, most sites in the south of Spain are gravelled, because it's too hot and dry for grass, but I've never seen a tarmac one - surely it would melt in summer! There are plenty of grassy sites on the Northern coast (the Atlantic) because the rainfall is higher, and also on the Costa Brava as it's not as hot and dry as the south.
But the good news is that there are plenty of excellent, spacious ACSI sites with roomy pitches, especially in those coastal areas that are less built-up and more attractive than the Malaga area. For example, Los Escullos in the Cabo de Gata, Los Madriles in Murcia, Ribamar near Alcossebre and Pinar San Jose on the Costa de la Luz.
But it's still worth staying on a less-attractive site for a short time in order to see interesting places in the area, like Malaga itself, Antequera, Archidona, El Torcal, Nerja, Frigiliana etc.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
With an extra couple of days thinking about sites and trawling the reviews I think it will now be the Pinar San Jose site for the longest part of our stay with a few days in the Alicante and Malaga areas on the way.
Quote: Originally posted by oxter on 12/12/2015Coming from north east Scotland we prefer to fly and rent accommodation near Malaga. Very reasonable for a month or more.
Weather has been around 20deg or just below in January with odd poor day.
We have looked at numerous sites around Malaga City and along coast both directions as well as inland. We have not found any of a standard we'd be relaxed on for a long stay. They tend to be Tarmac areas with units cheek by jowl. Not at all like pleasant ACSI sites in France and Northern Spain.
We will follow this topic with interest so please update with experiences.
Oops! Sorry about mis-posting, pressed wrong button by mistake. In reply to Oxter, most sites in the south of Spain are gravelled, because it's too hot and dry for grass, but I've never seen a tarmac one - surely it would melt in summer! There are plenty of grassy sites on the Northern coast (the Atlantic) because the rainfall is higher, and also on the Costa Brava as it's not as hot and dry as the south.
But the good news is that there are plenty of excellent, spacious ACSI sites with roomy pitches, especially in those coastal areas that are less built-up and more attractive than the Malaga area. For example, Los Escullos in the Cabo de Gata, Los Madriles in Murcia, Ribamar near Alcossebre and Pinar San Jose on the Costa de la Luz.
But it's still worth staying on a less-attractive site for a short time in order to see interesting places in the area, like Malaga itself, Antequera, Archidona, El Torcal, Nerja, Frigiliana etc.
Thanks for all that. Some south of Spain sites we visited had dirt pitches! But we have seen car park type sites and units squeezed in with enough separation for a slim girl to walk between. Something of a fire risk I'd have thought.
Been on lovely Spanish sites further north though.
If I was going for 3 months I'd take the caravan but it's cheaper for me to fly, rent a car and accommodation.
I have been to all the above places apart from Archidona and they are certainly worth visiting.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Winter in Spain
