Whether you want to enjoy the beaches in summer or experience skiing in winter, Spain has plentiful to offer all year round. If you want to celebrate a specific milestone such as an anniversary or a birthday in Spain that coincides with a Spanish festival, or if you are looking to time your vacation with a particular season, read on to know the very best time to visit Spain.
Visiting Spain In Spring (March to May)
Weather in spring
Spring is the season where flowers start to blossom and the weather starts getting better, marking an end to the cooler and wet winter. March and April are still going to be cold, so May is when the weather starts getting warmer and provides a good opportunity to start exploring the big cities, Madrid and Barcelona. It’s always good to layer up when visiting Spain in spring, as the evenings are going to be on the cooler side.
Popular festivals in spring
Barcelona Beer Festival, Las Fallas De Valencia, Semana Santa and Feria de Abril are the most popular festivals that happen during the months of spring. As the name suggests, Barcelona Beer Festival is for beer lovers to go and try a variety of craft beers in Barcelona, and bond with other beer lovers over food and beer.
Las Fallas De Valencia is a religious celebration held in Valencia. It is a festival of noise and fire – fireworks are set off from early in the morning, and the streets of Valencia are filled with parades, beauty pageants and competitions. Note that the noise is extremely LOUD, so it is not meant for pregnant women (they are not allowed) and not recommended for kids.
Semana Santa means “Holy Week” and is a holy celebration leading up to Easter. While it happens throughout all of Spain, the most renowned processions happen in the Andalusia region, especially in Seville and Malaga.
Two weeks after the processions of Semana Santa come to an end, La Feria de Abril fills the atmosphere of Seville with color, lights and festivities. It is a week long fair that happens in Seville, and you will get to try flamenco and enjoy amazing Spanish food and drinks. If you are curious about all the sights in and around Seville, read my blog on how to spend 10 days in Spain that covers everything that Seville has to offer.
Visiting Spain In Summer (June to August)
Weather in summer
Our personal favorite time to visit Spain is in summer, which is the best time to visit Spain. While the days are going to be really warm, you will get to enjoy long daylight hours and this is the best time to hit the beaches and sip lots of chilled sangria! Layering of clothes is not required; it’s just fantastic weather throughout the season and you will get to see Spain in its very best. No wonder that since these months are prime time for tourists, it is the most expensive time to visit Spain during these months.
Popular festivals in summer
La Batalla del Vino (June), San Fermin (July) and La Tomatina (August) are the most notable festivals that draw the largest amount of crowds during summer. In fact, each of them deserve to not be missed in your Spain vacation, however, since they happen in different months of the year, you will need to either have a long vacation or return back to Spain multiple times!
La Batalla del Vino is the great wine fight where people are fully drenched in wine! This festival takes place in Haro, part of the La Rioja region in northern Spain that’s considered Spain’s wine capital. If you have heard about the running of the bulls in Pamplona, then San Fermin festival needs no introduction.
The village is packed to the brim during this festival; you simply cannot walk around in the town without bumping into somebody else! The atmosphere is electric, and everybody is dressed in white with a red bandana. You don’t need to run with the bulls, you can simply enjoy the sights of the bulls from the balcony of a local. Check out my 10 day Spain itinerary blog and see how we had the best time of our life at Pamplona! Finally, the festival that’s perhaps Spain’s messiest festival, La Tomatina, where tomatoes are squashed and thrown at each other.
This festival takes place in Buñol, a tiny village near Valencia, and just like San Fermin, the village draws huge crowds and is completely packed.
Visiting Spain in fall (September to November)
Weather in fall
While the weather in September is still quite warm, the evenings and mornings are much cooler. The tourists have tapered off, so you will see much lesser crowds. November and December start getting much more cooler, and the days are shorter. You certainly need sweaters and jackets to keep you warm during these months.
Popular festivals in fall
Rioja Wine Harvest and La Mercè festivals offer tourists with opportunities to celebrate the Spanish culture in September. Rioja Wine Harvest festival happens in Logroño, part of the La Rioja region in northern Spain, considered to be Spain’s wine capital. The festival marks the time when the grapes are harvested and people can squeeze them with their feet. These grapes are used to manufacture the local Rioja wine.
A lot of activities happen during the festival, including parades, music performances and local sports events. La Mercè festival is held in Barcelona that honors the patron saint la Mercè (Virgin of Mercy). Amongst the most popular attractions besides parades, fireworks and performances are the Castellers, or the human towers, where people create human towers standing up on each other.
To experience Barcelona and its architecture, do check out our 10 day Spain trip that will provide a perfect itinerary for you.
Visiting Spain in winter (December to February)
Weather in winter
For budget travelers, the best time to visit Spain is in winter. As you can probably expect, it is rainy and cold in Spain during winter. There are hardly any tourists in these months, and hence the cheapest time to visit Spain is usually from December to February. However, since Spain does get snowfall in winter, you can ski and snowboard in the Sierra Nevada mountains if you are into winter sports.
Popular festivals in winter
La Tamborrada festival and Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife are popular amongst the locals and tourists during January and February. La Tamborrada is celebrated in San Sebastian and is one of the loudest festivals in Spain, wherein drummers parade the streets, drumming as loud as possible.
The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a Spanish carnival with Brazilian influence, and takes place in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. This is a very popular festivity comprising of parades, music and dancing.
Final Thoughts On The Best Time To Visit Spain
Now that you know what are the popular festivals and the weather is like in Spain all-year round, plan your trip to Spain that suits your taste and your budget. Read our blog to know how much does it cost to go Spain to get an idea on the budget required for a trip to Spain. We can create a custom itinerary for you based on your interests, so email us if you need one!