November in the Costa del Sol

October 26, 2024

November in the Costa del Sol is the month that bridges Halloween and Christmas, and it actually has a bit of both – Halloween celebrations tend to keep taking place during the first week of November, and Christmas celebrations start on the last week of the month. November is also a month that marks a transition in terms of weather; in the beginning of the month, during daytime, people still go around in shorts; in the end of the month, trousers and puff jackets prevail in the Costa. I’ll show it with pictures on this post. 😉

The weather in November in the Costa del Sol

Though in November we still can have temperatures close to 30^oC as a peak (between 2 and 4 pm), this is certainly not the rule. Most daytime temperatures are around the low 20^oC, and below that during nighttime, reaching its lowest around 6 to 8 am. There can be rain, mostly at night. November is the perfect time to enjoy a juice (or a beer) during the day and a hot cocoa (or a glass of wine) during the night!

Weather-related data for November in Malaga (data from Weather2travel):
🏊 sea temperature: +17^oC
🌅 Sunrise times: 07:42 am (November 1) – 08:11 am (November 30)
🌙 Sunset times: 06:20 pm (November 1) – 06:02 pm (November 30)
🌼 Average number of daylight hours: 10
☀️ Average number of sunshine hours per day: 6

The weather information above is for Malaga (city), but as the towns are so close together, you can extend this information to the surrounding areas as well. Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella and Estepona, as well as Rincón de la Victoria, Torrox and Nerja, should not differ much.

What to pack for November in the Costa del Sol?

Over the years I’ve been living in the Costa del Sol, I’ve taken a lot of pictures. In many of them – as you would expect – there are people around. Here are a few of those pictures, each and every one taken in November of previous years, where you can see what people are wearing. The goal is to give you a good idea of what to pack to feel cozy in November in the Costa del Sol! You can click on each image to enlarge it. 😉

Remarkable dates in November

The only holiday in Spain in November is All Saints Day, on November 1st. This is a national holiday, so you can expect banks, schools and supermarkets to be closed. It is a very convenient holiday, that allows Halloweens parties to be long on October 31!

The other remarkable date – though not a holiday – is the last Friday of the month. That’s because traditionally, the Christmas lights turn on for the first time in Malaga on the last Friday of November, and this tradition seems to be spreading throughout the Costa del Sol.

Related post:
Malaga holidays

Events in November in the Costa del Sol

Halloween

The spookiness goes on in the Costa del Sol during the first week of November. Though most parties and parades take place on or before October 31, many museums and culture-related venues in the Costa del Sol keep their Halloween themed exhibitions for a few days more.

Culture and Entertainment guides

The best places to look for cultural events are the official monthly entertainment guides of the Town Halls websites and their Facebook counterparts. Some cities update them more frequently than others, and usually information is posted just a few days before the event itself; despite that, they are the most complete source of information about cultural (and sometimes not so cultural) events in each city. Below, a super useful list:

For Malaga city: Visita Málaga guide and Facebook
For Torremolinos: Torremolinos Cultura guide and Facebook
For Benalmadena: Benalmadena guide and Benalmadena Cultura
For Fuengirola: Fuengirola guide and Agenda Fuengirola
For Mijas: Mijas and Cultura Mijas
For Marbella: Marbella and Cultura Marbella
For Estepona: Cultura Estepona and Facebook

If you come in the middle of the month, there are still plenty of activities going on – the Costa del Sol never stops. Check the Culture and entertainment guides, as November is often filled with music events and arts exhibitions.

Christmas

The part of Christmas that happens in November in the Costa del Sol (!?!) is quite exciting. It’s when all the Christmas-related surprises the towns have prepared are being displayed for the first time. There are lots of first switching-on of the lights, Christmas markets inaugurations and creative nativity scenes on display for the first time. It is a special part of the year, and if you like Christmas, the Costa del Sol is a great place to be, as here it lasts for a month and a half, until the beginning of January!

Conclusion

November is a bit of an in-between month, where you can pick-and-choose what kind of experience you want to enjoy. Come close to the beginning of the month if you want to enjoy higher temperatures, in the middle for a diverse set of activities or close to the end of November if you want to have a taste of Christmas in the Costa del Sol. Our snow may be artificial – 100% fake – but the festive spirit is so very real!

Next: Train Stations in Malaga – Splendid stops and a secret

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