Spain Weather - Central Spain


The Central Regions of Spain

Including (with towns and cities in parentheses):
ARAGON (Zaragoza), CASTILLA-LEÓN (Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid), CASTILLA-LA MANCHA (Toledo), EXTREMADURA (Badajoz), LA RIOJA (Logroño), and MADRID (Madrid),

inland ANDALUSIA (Córdoba, Granada, Jerez, Seville) and Andalusia's Atlantic coast,

southern inland parts of ASTURIAS, CANTABRIA, NAVARRA, and PAIS VASCO,

western inland parts of CATALONIA, MURCIA (Murcia), and VALENCIA

Rainfall is generally rather low over most of the interior although winter snowfall may be quite heavy and lie for a long time on the mountains. In late summer much of the country has a burnt and barren appearance after the long summer drought. The old French saying, Africa begins at the Pyrenees, has some truth in it if it is taken to refer to the heat and dry appearance of much of the countryside in summer. Summers are generally hot, particularly in the Guadalquivir valley in the south, where some of the highest Temperatures in Europe are recorded. Spring and early summer tend to be the wettest seasons in many places, but the rainfall is light and not very effective as it often falls in short, heavy showers. Winters have frequent cold spells with biting winds blowing off the snow-covered sierras. Dust and hot winds are the most unpleasant features of the summer weather, but low humidity makes the heat more bearable than in some of the coastal regions. The length of the dry summer season increases from north to south. Sunshine amounts are quite high throughout the year, ranging from an average of five hours a day in winter to as much as twelve hours in midsummer.

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