Málaga Weather by Month

ERA5 is a reanalysis, a weather model run backwards over observations, which gives a continuous thirty-year series for any point on the map. AEMET's normals are the airport station's own instruments, averaged over 1981 to 2010. The temperature curves are close.

The rain figures are not, and the difference falls exactly where a visitor would care. AEMET's airport gauge records 100 mm in both November and December against ERA5's 72 and 73 mm, and 69 mm in January against 59. Summer is dry on both: AEMET records 0 mm in July and 0.1 rainy days, ERA5 2 mm and 1.3 days.

How to read the gap

A rainy day on both series is a day with at least one millimetre. ERA5 counts more of them and AEMET records more water, which describes Málaga rain well: it comes in short, heavy episodes rather than grey weeks. A November total of 100 mm across 5.6 days is around 18 mm per rainy day, so the pattern is a wet afternoon followed by two clear ones, not a fortnight of drizzle. That is why a winter trip here rarely loses more than a day, and why the museum free hours on Sunday afternoons are worth placing on the day the forecast marks wet.

AEMET's annual figures for the airport are 534 mm of rain over 42.3 rainy days and 2,905 hours of sunshine. Humidity peaks at 72 per cent in December and bottoms at 58 per cent in June and July, so the summer heat is dry heat, which is easier to walk in than the number suggests and harder to notice until you are dehydrated.

Málaga in January

The coldest month, and still a 15.4°C (60°F) average high with nights at 9.6°C (49°F). Rain is 59 mm on ERA5 and 69 mm at the airport, spread over six to eight days, and the sun manages 180 hours. The Alcazaba and Gibralfaro are on winter hours, 09:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:00, and the Picasso Museum closes at 18:00, so days are planned around a 17:00 cut-off rather than the light.

The 1st and the 6th are public holidays, and the Roman Theatre, the Museo de Málaga and the Alcazaba's own shop treat them differently. The tickets index has the closures. The sunset catamarans are cut to one hour in January, as their listings state.

Málaga in February

A shade warmer at 16.1°C (61°F) and noticeably drier than January at 44 mm on ERA5, though AEMET's airport gauge still records 60 mm. The 28th is Día de Andalucía, a regional holiday on which the Picasso Museum, Casa Natal Picasso and Centre Pompidou all open free of charge, which makes it the cheapest museum day of the year. The Festival de Málaga's warm-up programme, MaF, runs from mid-February.

Evenings need a coat: the average low is 10.0°C (50°F), and the tuk-tuk operators fit rain and wind covers for a reason.

Málaga in March

The first walking month, 17.8°C (64°F) by day, 11.3°C (52°F) at night, and 222 hours of sunshine, though ERA5 still counts 7.6 rainy days and 60 mm. The Festival de Málaga fills the first half of the month, 6 to 15 March in 2026 and 26 February to 7 March in 2027. In 2026 Palm Sunday fell on 29 March, so Semana Santa began in March.

The events calendar has the processional timetable and the shop-opening rules that come with it. From 30 March the Cathedral moves to its longer weekday hours, 10:30 to 19:30.

Málaga in April

April is 19.6°C (67°F) by day with 244 hours of sun and 41 mm of rain, the driest of the spring months. The Alcazaba, Gibralfaro and La Concepción switch to summer hours on 1 April, which adds two hours to the evening: the fortress stays open to 20:00 and the botanical garden to 20:30, with its free Sunday window moving to 16:30 to 20:30. Jueves Santo and Viernes Santo, 2 and 3 April in 2026, are public holidays across Andalucía and the whole municipality is a free-trading zone for shops from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

This is the month the Caminito del Rey calendar starts to fill. The Caminito tickets page explains the timed, named ticket.

Málaga in May

The best all-round month on the figures: 22.6°C (73°F) by day, 15.7°C (60°F) at night, 292 hours of sunshine and only 26 mm of rain over four and a half days. The 1st is a public holiday. The 18th, International Museum Day, opens the Picasso Museum, Casa Natal, the Pompidou and the Carmen Thyssen free, and the Thyssen even opens on that Monday.

The Noche en Blanco, the city's one-night free culture festival, was Saturday 16 May in 2026, 20:00 to 01:00. The sea is not yet in season: lifeguards work weekends only until 15 June, and the catamaran swim stops begin in May by the operators' own listings.

Málaga in June

June steps up to 26.5°C (80°F) with 329 hours of sunshine and 8 mm of rain across two days. The humidity drops to 58 per cent. The bathing season opens on 15 June with lifeguards daily on the city beaches and the accessible bathing points staffed from that date.

From 1 June the whole municipality is declared a zone of high tourist influx for shop hours, which means Sunday opening through to 30 September. The night of the 23rd is San Juan, the one night the beach ordinance allows fires on the sand, from 10:00 on the 23rd to 21:00 on the 24th. The Cathedral's summer weekday hours, 10:30 to 20:00, begin on 1 June.

Málaga in July

The hottest month with August, 29.2°C (85°F) by day and 22.0°C (72°F) at night, 347 hours of sunshine and effectively no rain: 2 mm on ERA5, 0 mm at the airport. The beaches index names 12:00 to 15:00 and 17:00 to 19:00 as the busiest hours in July and August. The Picasso Museum runs its longest hours, 10:00 to 20:00, with the free Sunday window at 18:00 to 20:00.

The Virgen del Carmen procession on the 16th brings the fishing barrios out onto the sand at Pedregalejo and El Palo. Plan the Alcazaba for 09:00 or after 18:00 and keep the middle of the day for the sea or a museum. The with-kids page has the indoor list.

Málaga in August

Same 29.2°C (85°F) high as July, a warmer 22.5°C (72°F) night and 316 hours of sun. The Feria de Málaga ran 15 to 22 August in 2026, with the daytime fair in the historic centre ending at 18:00 each day and the 19th a local holiday. Several museums shorten their hours: the Carmen Thyssen runs 10:00 to 15:00 from 15 to 23 August, the Cathedral takes no visits on the 15th and 16th and closes at 14:30 from the 17th to the 22nd, and the Museo del Vidrio shuts for the whole month.

The events calendar sets all of that out. The 15th is also a national holiday.

Málaga in September

September cools to 26.0°C (79°F) by day and 19.8°C (68°F) at night, with 255 hours of sun and the first rain since May, 27 mm over about four days. The 8th, Virgen de la Victoria, is a local holiday on which the Museo de Málaga opens and most shops do not. The bathing season and daily lifeguards end on the 15th, and the Sunday shop-opening freedom ends on the 30th.

The Picasso Museum's free day on the 27th, World Tourism Day, is the last of its dated free days before its anniversary on 27 October. For walking the Gibralfaro path or the Montes de Málaga trails, the second half of the month is the first comfortable window since May.

Málaga in October

October is 22.7°C (73°F) by day, 16.8°C (62°F) at night, 215 hours of sun and 55 mm of rain over about six days, so the first real wet afternoons return. The 12th is a national holiday, and the Carmen Thyssen opens that Monday. La Concepción's free Sunday window moves back to 14:00 to 17:30 on 1 October.

On the 26th the Cathedral drops to winter weekday hours, 10:30 to 18:30. The Alcazaba and Gibralfaro keep summer hours to the 31st, so an October evening can still end on the castle terrace at 19:30. The Alcazaba tickets page has the combined fare.

Málaga in November

The wet season proper: 72 mm on ERA5, 100 mm at the airport, 172 hours of sun, 18.6°C (65°F) by day. The 1st of November holiday moved to Monday the 2nd in 2026. On the 1st the Alcazaba, Gibralfaro and La Concepción go to winter hours and the Picasso Museum closes at 18:00.

The Christmas lights on Calle Larios were switched on at 18:30 on Friday 28 November in 2025, with the 2026 date announced by the Ayuntamiento in November. November is still a 15°C afternoon most days, and the museum layer of the city, priced on the costs page, does not care about rain.

Málaga in December

December ties November as the wettest month, 73 mm on ERA5 and 100 mm at the airport, with the year's least sunshine at 160 hours and highs of 16.1°C (61°F). The 7th and 8th are public holidays in 2026, and the Thyssen opens on Monday the 7th. Calle Larios' light-and-sound show ran at 18:30, 20:30 and 22:00 through to 4 January in the 2025 season, with the lights themselves on until 02:00 from Thursday to Saturday and until 06:00 on the 24th and 31st.

The Picasso Museum, Casa Natal, Pompidou and Museo Ruso all close at 15:00 on the 24th and 31st and shut on the 25th. The Caminito del Rey closes on the 24th, 25th and 31st. The sunset cruises run one hour, not ninety minutes, in December.

What a wet day actually costs depends on where you were going. Inside the city it costs nothing: the Alcazaba's inner palace, the Picasso Museum, the Museo de Málaga, the Pompidou and the Carmen Thyssen are indoor, and the Roman Theatre is a five-minute look either way. The two things a wet day does close are outside the city.

The Caminito del Rey publishes weather closures on its website and Telegram channel on the morning of the visit, and a closure gives you a four-day window to swap the date or take a refund. The Caminito page explains the one-way route and why a morning slot is the safer one in a wet month. The Teleférico at Benalmádena suspends in adverse weather without a published calendar, so a winter cable-car day is a phone call first.

The boats run, the swim stops do not

The bay cruises out of Muelle Uno state in their own listings that they sail rain or shine, that a departure delayed by up to an hour is not grounds for a refund, and that a swim stop happens only when the sea allows. So a sunset sail in a wet week is a sail under a grey sky, not a cancellation, and the 90-minute cruise with a swim stop is a bay cruise outside May to September whatever the weather. Read those three conditions before you book a boat for a November date.

The places that suffer are the ones without a roof. The Alcazaba's ramparts and the Gibralfaro walls have no shade at all. The operator of the most-booked Alcazaba guided walk is praised in reviews specifically for keeping the group in the shaded gates. The Caminito del Rey's boardwalks hang on a south-facing cliff and its own recommendations page asks for at least 1.5 litres of water per person, with no toilets or water between the entry and the exit. The e-bike and vintage-bike operators run in summer but the climb to Gibralfaro on the castle-hill e-bike tour is an early-morning ride, not an afternoon one.

The practical shape of a July day is the one the Picasso Museum's hours suggest. Do the fortress at 09:00 when it opens, walk down the Coracha path before 11:00, spend 12:00 to 17:00 indoors, in the museum, in the market, or at the beach under an umbrella at the hours the city itself names as busiest, and come back out at 18:00 for the port. The Alcazaba's summer closing at 20:00, with last entry at 19:00, makes a second, cooler visit possible on the same ticket day if you enter after 18:00. The beach guide lists which of the 15 city beaches have shade and showers, and the Sunday afternoons when the museums are free, listed on the free things page, are the cheapest air conditioning in the city.

Nobody publishes a monthly mean sea temperature for Málaga. Puertos del Estado runs a buoy off the city, station 1514, and its public chart shows the live water temperature only, not a climatology, so any table of monthly sea temperatures you find elsewhere is either a private estimate or a copy of one. What is published is the season: the Ayuntamiento's beach communiqué sets lifeguards on weekends before 15 June and daily from 15 June to 15 September, with accessible bathing points staffed from 15 June at Guadalmar, Misericordia, San Andrés, Malagueta, Caleta, Pedregalejo, El Palo and El Dedo. The beach ordinance defines the season more widely as 1 June to 30 September. Between those dates the water is warm enough that the swim stops on the bay catamarans run. The operators themselves list May to September for them.

Sunshine is the figure Málaga is sold on, and it is real. AEMET's airport normal is 2,905 hours a year, from 160 in December to 347 in July. Even the darkest month averages more than five hours of sun a day, which is why a December visit to the botanical garden at La Concepción or a winter walk along the Senda Litoral is a reasonable plan rather than a gamble.

The official forecast for the city is AEMET's, the Spanish state meteorological agency, published for the municipality of Málaga on aemet.es with hourly and seven-day views. The Caminito del Rey's operators and the Teleférico both make their closure decisions on the morning, so a forecast the night before is a guide, not a guarantee. For anything beyond ten days out, the thirty-year table above is a better predictor than any long-range forecast, which is why the best time to visit page plans on climate rather than on a forecast.

Two things this page does not do. It does not print a monthly sea temperature, because none is published. And it does not print the popular claim of 320 sunny days a year, because AEMET counts sunshine in hours, not days, and 2,905 hours is the figure that exists. Whether Málaga is cheap or expensive is a different question, answered on the costs page, but the weather is part of the answer: the wet-season months are the ones with the lowest room rates, which is the trade the where to stay page sets out.