A relative of mine who says he's keen to escape the long damp British winter has asked me this. He also says he doesn't want to be confined to an island (although I've tried telling him that some of the islands aren't as small as he thinks), but he does want to be close to an expat community. Now personally I'm not averse to a winter cold spell with snow on the mountains, but I think in this case we can rule out central and northern Spain. My first instinct was the Valencia region - I've been there on incredibly mild days in winter. However the storms of this week have made me wonder. Any opinions out there? Should I try to get him to re-consider Tenerife, or is your part of Spain blessed with mild, sunny winters?

I doubt if any part escapes some inclement weather ,I live in Valencia Province and my pool has frozen once ,tis a bit misleading about there being 320 days of sunshine a year, you get sunshine with frost !!.I have seen weather there like you never see in UK .You need to drop down to the Canaries I think

As a general principle, locations near the sea (not just in Spain, but in general) don't reach extreme temperatures: either too hot in the summer or too cold int he winter. Whereas inland, all other things being equal) have hotter summers and colder winters.
It's impossible to foresee what other people will think is the best climate - there are almost certainly aspects that your relative hasn't told you about - or even thought about himself (e.g. would there be a possible need / desire to be close to a good hospital?)
If he wants the most desirable locations, these usually correspond to the places with the highest prices. That's because they're so desirable.

Depends on your definition of "best climate", but for the overall mildest weather the year round, you can't beat the Costa Del Sol.

Before you suggest anywhere read this, you maybe surprised!
http://www.world-weather-travellers-...ain.html#worst

Alicante Province is in the middle of a nasty Gota Fria, with all the trimmings, thunder, lightning, torrential rain, flooded roads, terrified dogs, missing cats, power cuts, and my swimming pool is within an inch of overflowing and the pump isn't working.

There are expat colonies all along the Costas. The climate gets warmer further south. It does rain, in fact there was torrential rain and flooding in Quesada yesterday.

Almeria is perhaps the most arid region and cheapest to buy. I would suggest the weather should not be his main consideration

I'm sure I saw on the news that they had floods in Almeria the other day!


maybe the days of sunny spain are going!

I think you are right there.

Although every year, month, week is different, some years we are on the beach in shorts at Christmas, others it´s cooler and sweater weather.

Do you know whether this has affected flights into Alicante?

Thanks for all your replies. I think Pete has pinpointed a major consideration here - the need to be close to facilities such as a hospital. I'm thinking the proximity to other British is a major consideration - and he does know people who've bought on the Costa Blanca. For me a lot of the attractions for this area (good connections to Barcelona, the new high speed link to Madrid, the inland towns and hills) aren't really relevant to his needs. I can see both here and the CDS being good locations.

Your circuit breaker has tripped inside the pump control box, open box, switch back on, job done.

I had the same a few times during the power outages, may save you a few euros!

im flying to valencia thursday, hope its all cleared up by then, i love a good storm but not when the planes landing

I don't think it has, but I've just watched the Spanish news and it's full of horror stories about blocked roads but mainly to the north of Denia, or Mazarron in the south. At the moment the sun's shining, but the forecast is horrible.

Thanks, I've just tried it, but it trips the main circuit in the house. Not to worry, the sun's come out.