“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain” is a song from the musical My Fair Lady. It is a one-liner to practice the correct way to pronounce the diphthong “ai” and has nothing to do with the reality of rainfall in Spain…
Do you know where we have the highest and the lowest rainfall in Spain?
Exactly, in Andalusia! Andalusia includes the area with the highest rainfall of Spain in the Grazalema Nature Park in the province of Cadiz in Western Andalusia with an average of 2,153 mm a year. And it includes the most arid part of Spain in the province of Almeria in Eastern Andalusia. The Nature Park Cabo de Gata with barely 150mm of rain a year is the driest corner in the Peninsula (and probably in Europe!)
Cabo de Gata
Different Landscapes
You can imagine the variety of landscapes you can enjoy in Andalusia! Green forest in the “Grazalema Nature Park”, and semi-desert areas in the eastern part of Andalusia, as in the desert of Tabernas, and the “Nature Park Cabo de Gata”. But also high snowed peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and a “subtropical coast ” full of mangos and avocados!
Tropical coast Granada: avocados
More than 300 days of sun!
By the way, do not worry about the rain for your hiking or cycling holidays…Most rain in Andalusia falls in the winter months, which may all fall in a few days! And generally, you can enjoy almost 3000 hours of sun per year, more than 300 days! In Andalusia we really like it when it is raining…, it is something different ?, we feel nature really needs it and it will be much more beautiful afterwards.
3 Solutions in case of rain
And if it would rain during your holiday there are some solutions:
1) Wear a rain jacket or poncho, put the rain protection on your backpack or put your stuff in the waterproof pannier of your bike
2) Just wait…until it gets dry again! Often it will rain heavily maybe for about 1 hour and then it suddenly stops!
3) Look for shelter. It is amazing how easy you’ll make contact with the Andalusian when it is raining cats and dogs, and maybe it will literally open the door for you to enter in someone’s garage, as people in the authentic Andalusia are very hospitable and might invite you to enjoy a hot tea or chocolate. Maybe you will have an enriched experience because of the rain!
And do not forget: “A mal tiempo, buena cara!” Literally translated it would mean “to bad weather put a good face” or look at the bright side!
