Winter Beach Beauty of Southern Spain

Walking barefoot on a beautiful, deserted beach on a gorgeous sunny, winter's day on the Costa del Sol, is one of the many pleasures of wintering in Spain. With over 300 days of sun a year, southern Spain is a popular escape for European holiday makers, since it is one of the few warm spots in Europe. It's off season though, so easy to avoid any crowds.

What is winter in Spain like? If you are far to the south and on the beach in Andalusia, it is usually quite warm and we've worn just t-shirts even on Christmas day in our beautiful white village.  It can get chilly at night, but it's a very pleasant Mediterranean weather, and one can also ski in the nearby mountains in Granada.

This winter on our open ended world tour,  we will be doing a tropical winter in Asia as kidlet immerses in her Mandarin, ( with a month in China soon too) but we will always have fond memories of our four winters in Spain and shall return again.

Is vacationing or wintering in Spain on your list?

Comments

[ALongerWaysToGo]

My husband and I left for our trip around the world on Sept 17th and are headed to Seville (from Dublin) in two weeks to spend a month! I'm not sure if it counts as "wintering" in Spain, but, we sure are looking forward to the warmth! Especially on days like today when it is 2dC in Dublin!!

[Gregory]

On my SHORT list!

[Joy]

I love the idea of wintering in Spain but I also prefer to blend into a crowd. How diverse would you say those villages are? Do you see any people of color in any of them and do you think the locals would be accepting? It's not so easy to just pick up and move anywhere for us -- we have to consider where we would be welcome. I appreciate your thoughts on this as much as you are able to share from your experience. Thanks

[Jeanne @soultravelers3]

Enjoy ALWTG! Yeah, love Dublin but even in the summer, it is colder than the winter in Spain.

[Jeanne @soultravelers3]

Smart thinking Gregory!

[Jeanne @soultravelers3]

Tricky question Joy and hard for me to answer since I do not live in a skin "of color" this time around.

That said, several of the expats told me that Andalusia area and Spain in general was the most accepting of all of Europe.

There are MANY places in Europe, where you are still considered an outsider even if you have been there 20 years and that did not seem to be the case in Spain. The long time expats became part of the community.

Of course, I suppose it would depend on the village and the person or family as well.

If you speak Spanish, that would certainly help.

Some consider some Spaniards as people of color and there are lots from Ecuador and other places in South America that have a dark Indian kind of look who seem to be perfectly accepted.

There are Muslims from Morocco that often seem to be "of color" and wear clothes different from the rest, who seem accepted.

My little blondie certainly stood out as different, but was thoroughly accepted as we were.

So my guess is there would be no problem.