Weather in Málaga in December

A good month. December is a solid month to be in Málaga. Highs average 16.4 °C, lows 13.1 °C, and rain falls on 8 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

December ranks 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Málaga's year. July is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 28 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one. Worth keeping in perspective: December is the weakest month of Málaga's year and it is still a perfectly good one. The downside here is small.

Rain on 8 days, 2 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 16.4 °C days and 13.1 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 3.3 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 22.5 °C and the coldest night fell to 7.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 49 mm — roughly 69% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. December rainfall has ranged from 4 mm to 290 mm across the twenty years measured — a 286 mm spread around an average of 71 mm. The average is real but almost no individual December looks like it, so treat the figure as the middle of a wide range rather than a forecast.

Wind is light at 15.2 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 78%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 18.4 °C in November, 16.4 here, 15.7 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December sits at the dark end of Málaga's year — 9.7 hours of daylight against 14.7 at midsummer, holding steady all month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 16.5 °C in December — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. The sea peaks at 23.6 °C in August and bottoms out at 15.3 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Málaga versus nearby

If Málaga is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Granada is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.7 °C cooler, 2 days less rain. Sevilla is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days less rain.

So: December is a compromise. July is 26 points better and is what Málaga is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Málaga

See all twelve months in Málaga, or where else to go in December.