Is Northern Spain a bit chilly in July?

[PrincessOfPreschool]

Need to go Spanish speaking as DS going to do Spanish A level. Didn't fancy South so thought north would be great. Planned whole holiday flying into Bilbao, travelling to Santander, staying round there. Now looked up weather and it seems quite chilly in July (for Spain!). I just assumed it would be S of France temps and didn't take into account the Atlantic.

Anyone been? What's it like? DD's only stipulation was 'needs to be hot' but looks like average highs of 22 and lows of 14. DH and DSes need 'stuff to do' (I would be happy with a simple beach hol).

Any other Spanish speaking suggestions? Not looking to hire car so good public transport required.

Op North west Spain will be around mid twenties in July so I'm not sure where you're getting your temperatures from.

It's a beautiful area with stunning beaches and more 'authentic' than the east coast.

A Coruna is particularly lovely, and we loved Vigo. If you based yourself around Salamanca you'll have a lovely time and there's something for everyone.

It depends whether you want a fixed base or will be moving around. We travelled the whole coast from Santander and loved it. Also did it in a boat but that's another story.

Castilian is Spanish

Accents vary by region.

Watch some videos/TV shows/films or listen to podcasts made by Spanish folk and see what you think.

Cadiz and the costa de la luz are wonderful and not too hot in July as on the Atlantic, but definitely hot enough. We had a holiday with a week in Vejer de la Frontera (glorious little white hilltop town, amazing beaches, some surfing paradise, accessible by bus), a few days in Cadiz (amazing city beach) and a few days in Puerto de Santa Maria (again, lovely beaches) and it wasn't ever over 30. Wonderful food, very Spanish area, not too expensive. We didn't hire a car.

PS my daughter was accidentally born in San Sebastián in June so we spent a month there. It's one of my favourite places in the world (see username!) but that June / July it was mild / warm, not hot, and rained a fair bit.

I went to Callella which I believe is in northern Spain,in July,many years ago (1982) and the daytime temperature didn't drop below the mid 20s,the whole time we were there. Don't know if that's changed now!

There are some lovely and little-known coastal towns in Cantabria, to us Brits anyway. It's very popular with Spanish tourists, though.
We had a couple of weeks once in the pretty town of Comillas, on the coast west of Santander, and also really liked Santillana Del Mar, nearby.

We went in July and it was warm enough to camp/surf but there were some rainy days (or part days). It is very green. The Picos and beaches were amazing.

The last two or three years that we've been to northern Spain in August it rained almost the whole week. We went one year and there was a heat wave and it was 30 degrees some days - but obviously that was because there was a heatwave . If you want guaranteed hot then I'd give it a miss personally.

We spend each January in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Vejer is indeed lovely and very popular with walkers but it's a long way from the north coast!

January temperatures on the Costa de la Luz average around 16-18, almost t-shirt weather for us while the locals are bundled up in coats and scarves. But we think it's perfect, especially with an extra two hours of daylight in Jan.
It's south of Seville so can get hot... I get regular weather warnings from the Spanish meteo for 40+ degrees temperatures in Seville in July and August.

We were there on honeymoon in late August years ago and the weather was lovely. Def warm enough for brits swimming. Beautiful countryside, comillas lovely, and Santillana del Mar. We went up into the picos de Europa mountains and took cable car to the top - fantastic. And then over to San Sebastián at the end for pinchos food goodies.

I meant to suggest it as an alternative to the North Coast that's less hot than the South East, as I think the OP was wondering about other areas. I may have been lucky but Cadiz even in August seemed to have a cooling breeze and the sea is cooler than the Med side. Seville in high summer sounds potentially hellish though

We went last August bank holiday weekend for 6 nights, half in Bilbao and half in San Sebastian, about half the time it was pretty hot like 28-30 degrees and the other 3 days it was more like 24 degrees. I don't think it rained. It was perfect weather to be honest, much rather that than 35+ degrees. The sea was cooler than the med, water temperature around 23 degrees, but plenty warm enough to swim in.

Need to go Spanish speaking as DS going to do Spanish A level

Just out of interest, was your sole reason for holidaying in Spain your child's A level choice, or do you mean you were planning Spain, but want somewhere where not everyone speaks English so he gets a chance to practise?

My parents in law have a home in Cantabria. I'd say it's usually mid 20s in the Summer, a bit cooler in the mountains than on the coast. Expect it to be more like a nice Summer in the UK than the really hot weather that you get in the South. And it can rain - it's "Green Spain" for a reason after all - but you'd be unlucky to get a long spell of rainy weather in July. It can get very hot sometimes but I wouldn't go expecting over 30c as standard.
You'll find Basque spoken in Bilbao and San Sebastian but in my experience most people are bilingual and road signs, menus etc are usually in Spanish too. Santander is in Cantabria and they speak Spanish. It's a beautiful part of Spain and much quieter than the better known tourist areas. It's quite popular with French and Spanish holidaymakers in the Summer but you don’t get the crowds like on the Costa del Sol etc.

With global warming there’s potential for a heatwave anywhere! Sightseeing in 35 degrees is horrible. Lower temperatures are wonderful!

Speaking Spanish was the main reasons for choosing Spain, yes. To be honest, I would maybe go to Greek mainland or Italy if it weren't for the Spanish. DS is really very good so I want to encourage it. He may not even be able to do A level at his current school (so it depends if he gets into the other sixth form he applied to AND whether he chooses to move schools). But still, I think it's great if he can see that he can use a foreign language in practise to get around.

We also wanted somewhere where we could stay self catering in a town (rather than English speaking hotels), use public transport to get around and not be surrounded by Brits Abroad. In a country where we don't speak the language, we would be dependent on very touristy areas and Google translate!

I'm not sure where you are getting your temperatures from (do you have a link?), but you can expect it to be a lot hotter than the UK. Highs close to 30s most days, although it may not stay muggy all night every night like it does around the Mediterranean. There are many ways to express typical/average temperatures, and not all of them are as useful to tourists as they are to meteorologists.

Regarding the language, people speak regular Castilian everywhere. It's just that at home or with their workmates they may be bilingual and speak Catalan in the Barcelona region, a variant of Catalan (which the people from Catalonia often look down on) in Valencia and another in the Balearics, Basque in Bilbao or San Sebastian, and Galician (which is close to Portuguese) in Santiago. Nobody will get angry and accuse you of being an agent of the oppressors from Madrid if you use whatever level of Castellano you have. 😁

We went to Bilbao and San Sebastián last August. It was 40c some days. Waaaay too hot. Then it was about 26-30 in san sebastian. It ranged down to 18-20 quite muggy, not cold. Some rain showers.

We loved it. I booked Cantabria and Rioja this year.

I'd recommend visiting the guggenheim. It's quite good fun. Eating Pinxtos in the old town is nice. I wouldn't spend too long there.

San Sebastian is great. Food heaven.

I highly recommend win tasting in Rioja. Somewhere near Haro.

Grenada was 43⁰ last year when we went in July. Unbearable.

North Coast will be lovely. Much warmer than home.

Thanks all. I really appreciate your help. @ZenNudist, Rioja is DH's favourite wine!

Planning on flying to Bilbao, staying a couple of days (there's a nice hike just outside I found too) then on to Santander by train. We'll get the ferry across the bay to Somo and stay there for 10 days or so. Can have surf lessons and hike parts of the Camino del Norte as well as going into Santander by boat and local towns by bus. Now just to hope for the weather and that everyone understands DS's accent!

22 C is an in the shade temperature, so likely to be 'quite warm' just not as hot as the too hot Andalucia. Plus travelling across the north coast between Bilbao and Santander will be a fab holiday. We tried to do that during one of the times during COVID when it started to look like you could travel again then everything got cancelled and we've never got around to rearranging.

But don't write off the south of Spain for avoiding English speaking areas. You don't have to go far inland, literally a few miles, to find people who won't automatically speak to you in English when they see that you're British. Plus you could always tell them that you want to practice Spanish so will speak to them in Spanish, which should also help his understanding. I speak far better Spanish than I understand, so will talk to people in Spanish but not understand the reply But wherever you go, I'd expect menus in Spanish, alongside possibly a local language like Basque and possibly other languages - I like to see the Spanish menus anyway, because English translations aren't always very helpful.

The major coastal cities (Malaga, Valencia, Alicante) are also very Spanish and easy to avoid English, also good for self catering and using public transport - but even the Costas are good for that, there's far more than 'Brits Abroad' AI hotels and a lot of places attract an international and even Spanish clientelle. If you can fly to Jerez, the Costa de la Luz is also a good option.

Asturias is Northern Spain and they speak Castilian Spanish. Beaches and mountians (Picos) I went in July and the weather was glorious. Surfing is very good as well as walking

The accent in Asturias and Bilbao is easy to understand for a student of Spanish. The tone is different but their pronunciation is clear and they don't miss sounds (as they do in other areas of Spain). I think it's a great choice!

We spent a week doing this last September, a great trip and usually around 28 degrees