If sunshine is top of your summer wish-list, then there’s one European country that puts the rest in the shade, according to new weather research.
A study by holiday rental platform Holidu has unearthed the continent’s sunniest cities, and eight of the top ten are in Spain.
Recent bad weather may have dogged Spanish islands – with Easter holidaymakers caught out by surprise floods on Lanzarote, but the country is still far and away the safest bet if you’re craving a city break in the sunshine.
Analysing which urban destinations gift the most hours of sunshine, Holidu consulted data from World Weather Online and found the south-eastern city of Cartagena basked in the most hours of sunshine per month.
The historic port city, founded by the Carthaginians around 220 BC, gets a whopping average of 283 hours of sun every month.
Its average temperature year-round is a balmy 19.1 degrees – with the mercury rising to way in excess of 30 degrees at the height of summer.
Even better, the destination is on the low-cost flight map, with a host of airlines, including Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 flying into nearby airports, including Murcia International (RMU), around 25 minutes away.
Flights with Ryanair start from around just £34, making it ideal for a cheap weekend getaway.
Basking: Cartagena, Southern Spain’s low-key port city boasts an impressive 283 hours of sunshine per month and an average year-round temperature of 19.1 degrees
The Spanish city is also easy on the wallet, with Ryanair offering £34 return flights – and a pint in the destination’s bars around £2.50
And when it comes to spending on the ground, there’s more good news; the average price of a pint of beer is around €3 in the city, which works out at just over £2.50.
Last year, a Which? traveller survey of 28 Spanish seaside towns named Cartagena as one of the country’s best value breaks.
The consumer champion invited travellers to score the Spanish seaside towns on 11 criteria including the quality of the beach and seafront, safety, food and drink, accommodation, and value for money.
According to the latest research, other popular destinations that promise glorious sunshine on the Spanish mainland include Alicante and Malaga, which boasts 279.6 and 279.3 hours of sun per month respectively.
And the two city break destinations that aren’t in Spain but that did find themselves in the top ten?
Cultural French hotspot Marseille (266.1 hours monthly) and Catania on Sicily (273.7) – which are both also on the low-cost flight map.
Other sure-fire sunny weekenders also included more Southern Spanish hotspots – Seville (273.4) and Cordoba (268.2).
Travellers led exclusively by cost might find Valencia offers the perfect mix of cut-price entertainment and sunshine though.
A 2024 Which? traveller survey of 28 Spanish seaside towns named Cartagena as one of the country’s best value breaks
Alicante’s sun-drenched coastline gets an average of 279.6 hours of sunshine every month
And Malaga’s miles of sandy coastline also sees an average of 279.3 hours of sun
A survey earlier this month revealed the cheapest and most expensive cities in which to be an ex-pat – and the Spanish holiday favourite scored highly.
The results come from a survey run by expat network InterNations, which asked those living abroad to rate their lives based on key personal-finance factors.
Expats were asked about the general cost of living in their new home, their satisfaction with their financial situation and whether their disposable income was enough to ‘lead a comfortable life’.
Over three quarters (77 per cent) of expats living in Valencia say they’re satisfied with their financial situation, much higher than the global average of 54 per cent.
And more than six in ten (61 per cent) say their disposable income is ‘more than enough’ to lead a comfortable life, significantly higher than the global average of 41 per cent.
An American expat residing in the historic Spanish city told InterNations: ‘I like that I don’t have to worry about my cost of living, whether housing or healthcare.’
