SKI SLOPES OF PRADOLLANO SKI RESORT IN SPAIN
January in Spain can be very different than in your home country but whilst most people visit Spain during the hot months of July and August, there are so many reasons to come and spend time here during January.
The weather in Spain during January can vary wildly from region to region, and example being the southernmost regions such as Andalucia enjoying a nice bit of sunshine and an average temperature of 14 or 15 degrees, compared to Pamplona in the north which shivers in about 8 or 9 degrees. Madrid in the centre of the country can get even colder in winter, especially at night times so wrap up warm if you plan to visit the Spanish capital during January.
Should the chilly temperatures for January in Spain put you off visiting the country? No way! Spain is a vibrant and varied country and the Spanish people don’t need much excuse to have a party, festival or fiesta, so this is what you can do in Spain during January.
Welcome the 3 kings!
Christmas in Spain is very different from the sort of festive season I got used to when growing up in England. The main reason for this being that children don’t generally get their presents until the 3 kings, or 3 wise men, arrive on January 6th, namely Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. This is a day known elsewhere around the world as epiphany, and is a very important day in Spain.
If you have the opportunity to stay with a Spanish family while visiting Spain in January, you will get the full cultural experience, and it’s one not to be missed, especially if you bring children to Spain on holiday with you as they get a 2ndChristmas day!
The 3 kings are welcomed in almost every town in Spain, and they parade through each town on brightly decorated floats, although some places, they arrive riding camels!
They throw sweets out to the children in the streets who eagerly scramble on the floor to gather them up! That night, the Spanish kids put their shoes outside the front door, for the kings to fill it with gifts, although naughty children get a lump of coal in their shoe!
Winter Fiestas in Northern Spain
La Tamborrada is a crazy festival and one to really warm you up on a cold day, and is held in the Northern Spanish city of San Sebastian over 2 days, namely the 19th and 20th of January.
What happens is, at midnight on the 19th, in the Konstituzio Plaza (the main city square), the city mayor raises the flag of San Sebastian and for 24 hours, day and night, the entire city is awash with the sound of drums, and general noisy percussion.
The whole family takes part and the adults are, for some reason, dressed as cooks and also old fashioned soldiers. They perform marches in different companies or battalions across various parts of this very interesting city with different schedules at different parts of the day, so if you are in San Sebastian this January, be warned, you won’t get much sleep for the 2 days but what fun!
Winter fiestas in Southern Spain.
The weather in the south, for most of the year, is better than in the north and in the centre, so why not take the opportunity of very cheap flights and accommodation during winter time in Spain and get yourself over to Granada, only about an hour or so drive from Malaga airport to experience the Fiesta de la Toma (Festival of the Capture) on the 2nd of January.
This fiesta commemorates the day the catholic kings forcibly took the massive Alhambra palace and the area in general, from the Moorish rulers of southern Spain in 1492. This wonderful fiesta is certainly something to see if you happen to be in the Costa Del Sol area during January.
The typical festivities include lavish processions with the people of the town dressed in 15th century period costume and culminates in the flag being raised over the city hall to signify the “Victory” of the expulsion of the last Moorish rulers on the Iberian peninsula.
After all of this, and if you fancy a brisk walk, many of the people, including tourists, ascend the Alhambra’s Torre de la Vela tower to ring its bell, which again, signifies what happened all those hundreds of years ago. The weather for this event you can be assured will be sunny but mild, and you could expect a temperature of around 13 degrees C, or 55f.
Sports in Spain during winter time.
The Spanish are keen participants on Sports, however the climate here has to be taken into serious consideration if one is to come to Spain and take part in Sport. The hot weather during the summer months sees a marked slow down in the amount of sporting activities as it gets just too hot to do anything more than very moderate exercise and that is either at night, early morning, or indoors.
That’s why, for the more active among us, taking a holiday in Spain during winter time can be the ideal time to come here as the temperature is similar to the UK on a good day in Spring, not too hot, but not cold either; ideal weather for sports!
The range of sports that you can take part in are massive, and include golf, with some very high class, world standard golf courses up and down Spain.
There is also more physical pursuits such as football, rugby, tennis, cycling, in fact a wide range of sports that can be done in Spain during the winter time, and usually not much chance of being rained off either! If you visit Valencia in the east of the country, a group of local British expats have even formed Valencia’s first cricket team!
Skiing in Spain
One of the main reasons people do come to Spain in winter though is for the skiing.
Many people, who wrongly think the country is hot and sunny all year round, don’t seem to realize that there are places in Spain that are great for skiing, and the most popular would have to be the sierra Nevada in Andalucia. It contains the highest point of continental Spain, Mulhacen at 3478 m above sea level, (the actual highest point being mounttiede on the island of Tenerife).
Skiing each winter in the Sierra Nevada shows that the pistes lend themselves to the intermediate skier rather than amateurs, although there is plenty of off-piste skiing for the advanced skiers. The area also boasts some wonderful bars and restaurants too, and everything to keep the most ardent skier happy, and the big draw of this area is that a short drive down the mountain range will land yourself at the costa del sols famous beaches, and some nice sunshine too.
Coming to Spain in the winter time can let you discover so much more about this wonderful country, with a few surprises thrown in too!