Gardening in Spain: climate, frost dates and crops by region

Climate zones of Spain

By the days between the last spring frost and the first autumn frost.

How the regions of Spain differ

Splitting the cities in two — north (Gijón, Santander, A Coruña and 37 more) and south (Castellón de la Plana, Talavera de la Reina, Mahón and 37 more): the last spring frost comes about 60 days later in the north; the frost-free season is about 250 days in the north and 313 days in the south; the warmest month averages 29.5 °C by day in the north and 31.1 °C in the south; the north gets about 646 mm of rain a year and the south about 468 mm.

Splitting the cities in two — west (Jaén, Santander, Móstoles and 37 more) and east (Mahón, Manacor, Girona and 37 more): the last spring frost comes about 31 days later in the east; the frost-free season is about 268 days in the west and 257 days in the east.

The gap between the warmest month’s days and the coldest month’s nights is widest in Úbeda (34.3 °C) and smallest in Ceuta (8.9 °C): the smaller it is, the milder both winter and summer. Pontevedra is the wettest of these cities with 1,810 mm a year, Arrecife the driest with 84 mm. The hottest summer days are in Seville (37.6 °C on average in the warmest month), the coolest in A Coruña (22.7 °C). In 8 of the 81 cities at least one month averages below 0 °C at night; the longest such winter is in Jaca (December–March).

Which crops suit which part of Spain

Season long enough: the days from planting to the first autumn frost cover the days to the first harvest on the plant card. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Cities without a spring frost: months that suit each crop

Months whose average day is not above the highest temperature on the plant card and whose average night is not below its lowest.

Cities of Spain: weather in numbers

ERA5 2016–2025 via Open-Meteo, 25 km grid cell of each city; dates by the Greenly calendar and the plant cards.

Spain by region: frost dates and planting windows

Each region’s page sets its cities side by side: frost dates, planting windows and weather by month.

• Andalusia
• Aragon
• Asturias
• Basque Country
• Canary Islands
• Castile and León
• Castilla–La Mancha
• Catalonia
• Community of Madrid
• Extremadura
• Galicia
• Navarre
• Region of Murcia
• Valencian Community

More about Spain

• Spain: frost dates by city
• Selling your harvest in Spain
• Where to buy seeds and plants
• When to plant tomatoes in Spain
• When to plant cucumbers in Spain
• When to plant peas in Spain
• When to plant garlic in Spain
• When to plant tulips in Spain
• Gardening by country