The main climates in Spain

1. CLIMATES OF SPAIN

2. The physical features of Spain
(peninsular and insular
territories, located in medium
latitude, numerous mountain
ranges...) have an important
influence over climate. There is
an important variety of climates
and this makes the country very
rich in biodiversity. Spain is the
most biologically diverse country
in Europe, the one that holds
more different species of
animals and plants.

3. - LATITUDE: Temperatures are lower in the areas located
to the North (closer to the North Pole). However, it rains
more in the northern areas of Spain than in the southern
ones, due to the proximity of the mountain ranges to
the coast.
- ALTITUDE: Temperature decreases with altitude (0.6 ºC
every 100 metres, which is 6º C every 1,000 metres) and
precipitation increases with altitude. This is the reason
why temperatures are colder in mountainous areas and
it rains more.
- DISTANCE FROM THE SEA: coastal places have milder
climate than inland places. In inland places summers are
hotter and winters are colder. As for precipitation, it
always rains more at the coast than inland, because air
masses come from the sea. Precipitation reduces as we
go inland. That’s why the places located in the Central
Plateau have extremer temperatures and lower amount
of precipitation than the places located on the coast.
FACTORS WHICH
AFFECT SPAIN’S
CLIMATES

4. Meteorologists have concluded
that there are five different
climates in Spain:
- oceanic
- Mediterranean
- continental Mediterranean
- mountain or alpine
- subtropical climate
These five climates create different
bioclimatic spaces.

5. - Location : north and northwestern regions
of the Peninsula (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria
and Basque Country).
- Main features:
• mild temperatures all year round, because
of the proximity of the sea, which makes
temperatures milder in summer and in
winter
• abundant and regular rainfall (more than
1,000 mm per year). It rains in all seasons.
- Typical landscape: Deciduous forest, with
trees like ashes, oaks, beech and chestnut
trees and natural meadows where the forest
has been cut. However, many forests have
been cut down and replaced with pastures
for livestock or pine and eucalyptus
plantations for the timber industry.
OCEANIC CLIMATE

6. Deciduous forest

7. - Location: regions bathed by the Mediterranean Sea or
close to it (Catalonia, Valencian Community, Murcia,
Andalusian coast and Balearic Islands).
- Main features:
• Hot temperatures in summer and mild in winter
• low precipitation (between 300 and 600 mm). It doesn´t
rain in summer. It rains mainly in autumn and spring.
• Rivers have an irregular flow, which is very low in
summer. In the rainy seasons they can overflow and
produce floods.
MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE
- Typical landscape: Mediterranean forest: holm oaks,
pine trees, cork oaks, shrubs and aromatic plants like
thyme, rosemary and broom. In the driest areas we can
find the steppe, with plants like prickly pears, agave and
date palms. However, natural vegetation has almost
disappeared and forests have been replaced by pines and
garrigue, farmland, large cities and industrial areas.
Human activity has deeply altered the Mediterranean
natural landscape.

8. Steppe
Garrigue

9. - Location: center of Spain: Castile and León,
Castile- La Mancha, Madrid, Extremadura
and the Ebro and Guadalquivir valleys.
- Main features:
• Hot temperatures in summer and very cold
in winter, with big thermal amplitude.
• Low precipitation (between 300 and 600
mm). It doesn´t rain in summer. It rains
mainly in autumn and spring.
- Natural landscape: similar to the
Mediterranean forest, but with species that
resist the cold winters (pine trees, holm
oaks, Portuguese oaks, cork oaks and
aromatic plants) and steppes in the driest
areas. The natural landscape is only found in
the places that are inadequate for other
uses.
CONTINENTAL MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE
Ciudad Real

10. Portuguese oak Holm oaks
Cork oak

11. - Location: in the highest mountains of the
Pyrenees, the Cantabrian Mountain Range, the
Central, Iberian and Baetic Systems.
- Main features:
• Temperatures: long and cold winters, with
temperatures below 0ºC, and short and cool
summers.
• Precipitation: abundant and increases with
altitude.
- Typical landscape: Vegetation changes with
altitude (altitudinal zonation): species adapt to
the different conditions of temperature and
humidity and appear in different levels
(Mediterranean forest at the foot of the
mountain, deciduous forest later, coniferous
forest, heaths and meadows). There isn’t much
vegetation at the top of the mountains. This
natural landscape has also been modified by
human activity, mainly for tourism.
MOUNTAIN OR ALPINE CLIMATE

12. Rosettes

13. - Location: Typical climate of the Canary
Islands.
- Main features:
• Temperatures: hot all year round
(between 17º and 25º C)
• Precipitation: very low (between 100-
200 mm), irregular and frequently
torrential.
- Typical landscape: unique vegetation,
with a big variety of endemic species,
only found in the archipelago, like Canary
pine trees, date palms, Dragon trees in
the driest areas and the laurel forest
(laurisilva) in the dampest areas. Most of
the natural landscape of the Canary
Islands is protected due to its exceptional
nature.
SUBTROPICAL CLIMATE

14. Laurel forest (Laurisilva )Dragon tree
Canary Island pine