Spain

Andalusia in January: cold nights, empty streets, orange trees

Nobody tells you the south of Spain has a winter. We found out in a room with one electric radiator and a very good blanket.

8 November 2026 · Trip: January 2026 · 3 min read · Marta and Jonas

White houses on the edge of a deep gorge in Ronda at dusk — Ronda’s white houses along the edge of the gorge at dusk, with hills behind. Photo: Amos from Stockphotos.com / Unsplash

We went in the second week of January expecting sun and found it, in the afternoon, between about two and five, and spent the rest of the day in coats. It was a good trip anyway, perhaps because it was so quiet. Ronda in January belongs to the people who live there.

We flew into Málaga and took the train to Ronda, changing at Bobadilla, two hours for €13 (Renfe sells the tickets; the change is tight but the second train waits). The room was €48 with breakfast, in a house behind the bullring, with one electric radiator and a window that did not quite close. Night temperatures were around two degrees. The owner brought a second blanket without being asked and said, “Es enero.” A café con leche was €1.60 and a tostada with tomato and oil €2.80, and we had both every morning at the bar on the corner.

Ronda and the villages

The new bridge is as dramatic as you have heard, and at five in the afternoon in January you can stand on it alone. We took the bus to Setenil de las Bodegas, twenty-five minutes for €2.60, where the houses are built under the rock and lunch was lomo with fried potatoes for €9. The next day we tried to get to Grazalema. There is one bus a day. We missed it by two minutes, because the clock in the café was five minutes slow, and ate a second breakfast instead.

A cobbled street of white houses with yellow trim and hanging flowers — A whitewashed street with yellow-trimmed windows and geraniums on the balconies. Photo: Alex / Unsplash

The white villages are best seen in the late afternoon from a bus window, with the light coming in low. In January there are no flowers on the balconies yet, only the pots, waiting.

A white town on a hillside above dry scrub under a pale sky — A white hill town above dry scrub and a dirt road. Photo: Stefan Münz / Unsplash

Córdoba

Ronda to Córdoba is three and a half hours by train with a change, about €21. Córdoba in January smells of orange trees and wood smoke, and the courtyard of the Mezquita is full of oranges nobody picks. At the time we went, entry to the Mezquita was free on weekday mornings before the main opening, so at eight, in the wind, we were fourth in the queue. By half past the queue went round the corner. It was worth it.

Many kitchens do not open until half past eight in the evening. Lunch is at two or later; if you get hungry at five you are eating crisps. The room near the river was €62 and had actual heating. We were so grateful that we stayed an extra night.

What we got wrong

We forgot about daylight. It is dark by six and the streets empty fast after that, so the evenings were long and we read a lot. We assumed the small museums kept the same hours all year; several close on Mondays and some for the whole of January. And we did not pack gloves, which in a country that sells excellent gloves for €5 at every market stall was an avoidable mistake.