Month by month: heat, rain, sunset times and crowds on the Costa Blanca and in Valencia — and which months are the safest choice for a wedding.
This coast has one of the driest, sunniest climates in Europe. Alicante gets roughly 300 mm of rain in a whole year, Valencia under 500, and both see somewhere between 2,700 and 2,900 hours of sunshine. So the question here is rarely “will it rain?”. It is “how hot will it be, when does the sun set, and how busy is the coast?”
The short answer
If you are free to choose: late May, June, and September to mid-October. Warm evenings, light that is kind to faces, and a sunset late enough for an unhurried dinner outside.
Every other month can work too — it just asks for a different kind of day.
Month by month
| Month | Daytime high | Sunset | In short |
|---|---|---|---|
| March – April | 19–21 °C | 19:10 → 20:40 | Green, mild and changeable; Fallas and Easter crowds |
| May | 23–24 °C | about 21:05 | Warm days, fresh nights, long evenings |
| June | 27–28 °C | about 21:30 | The longest days, almost no rain |
| July – August | 30–31 °C | 21:25 → 21:00 | Hot and humid; high season everywhere |
| September | about 28 °C | about 20:10 | Warm sea, softer light, the first storms |
| October | about 24 °C | about 19:25 | Mild and golden, with a real chance of rain |
| November – February | 16–20 °C | 17:40 – 18:40 | Quiet and bright; short days, cold nights |
Temperatures are long-term averages from AEMET, the Spanish weather service, rounded. Sunset times are for the middle of the month.
Spring: April and May
April is a gamble that often pays off. The countryside is green, the orange groves around Valencia are in blossom, and venues have dates and off-season prices. But the weather changes its mind from one day to the next, and the evenings are cool: plan the dinner indoors, or at least somewhere that can be closed.
May is the first month I would call safe. The days are warm without being heavy, and the sun sets after nine. Nights are still fresh — tell your guests to bring something for their shoulders.
June
The easy choice. It almost never rains, the days are the longest of the year, and a ceremony at seven in the evening still leaves two and a half hours of daylight.
One thing to check if you are marrying in Alicante city: the Hogueras de San Juan run from 20 to 24 June. Streets are closed, fireworks go off at all hours and hotels are full. More about dates like this in how to choose a wedding date.
July and August
People marry in high summer every year and it goes well — when the day is built around the heat. That means a ceremony no earlier than seven, real shade for the guests, water and fans on the chairs, and dinner at half past nine, which is when Spain sits down to eat anyway.
What does not work is a ceremony at four in the afternoon in full sun. Everyone squints, make-up runs and nobody listens to the vows. Bear in mind too that August is when the coast is at its busiest and most expensive, for your guests’ flights and hotels as much as for you.
September and October
For light, this is my favourite time of year. The sun is lower and softer, the sea still holds the heat of the summer, and the worst of the crowds have gone home.
The catch is the gota fría: short, violent autumn storms that can bring a month of rain in a single afternoon. On any given day the odds are on your side, but these two months are the wettest stretch of the year, and an autumn wedding here needs a proper plan B — a covered space you would be happy to use, not a tent ordered in a panic two days before.
November to March
Winter on this coast means 16–18 °C and blue sky on most days. Venues are free, often cheaper, and the low sun gives beautiful light all afternoon.
The price is the short day. In December the sun sets before six, so the ceremony moves to half past three or four, and dinner is indoors — nights drop below 10 °C. It suits small weddings and elopements best; there is a package for exactly that.
Alicante or Valencia: is there a difference?
A small one. Alicante is a little drier and a touch warmer in winter. Valencia gets more of the autumn rain and feels more humid in summer. Inland — Guadalest, the mountains behind the coast, the vineyards of Requena — nights are a few degrees cooler all year, which is a blessing in July and something to plan for in April.
For places and venues, see my pages on weddings in Alicante and the Costa Blanca and in Valencia.
Three things that matter more than the month
- The hour of the ceremony. Two to two and a half hours before sunset is right in almost every month. I wrote about it in planning the day around the light.
- Shade. For the two of you during the ceremony, and for the guests while they wait.
- A plan B you actually like. Ask the venue to show it to you on the visit, not to describe it.
Get those three right and there is no bad month to marry here.
