WHERE exactly in Spain you live makes a bigger difference to the weather than you might have thought if you come from a northern European country with a more consistent climate.
Even without taking the Canary Islands into account – given that these are off the coast of southern Morocco and close to the tropics – the variety of temperatures, humidity and general forecasts across the mainland, Balearics and the north African coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla is far greater than the land-mass size of the country would have you believe. Winters inland, at altitudes, in northern parts, and especially all three of these combined, can be considerably colder and harsher than even in the north of Scotland; in the south-east, bordering the Mediterranean, they may never get more bracing than springtime in southern England or northern France, although with rare, short-lived and extremely intense episodes of almost-monsoon-like rainfall. But both can go either way, the heat of summer is dry inland and humid and semi-tropical on the east and south coasts, the northern strip spends two-thirds of the year with intermittent Scotch mist keeping it bright-green, and summers here can be either mild and springlike with cool nights, or swelteringly hot.
April is possibly one of the least-predictable months anywhere in the country for climate and temperature. One day you could be topping up your tan on the beach, the next day you could be in thermal pyjamas, and rainfall can be anywhere from absolute zero to flash floods, via drizzle and pervading damp.
It's rarely freezing (although watch out for early-hours frosts if you live inland or high up), or consistently sweaty, though, and it happens to be one of the best months of the year to plant whatever you want to have yielding fruit in high summer.
Despite this, you'll have to monitor these newly-planted crops constantly, ready to shield them from the elements if needed, give them extra water, drain them or cover them if it rains too much, or filter out excessive sunlight – if they're in pots on a terrace, you may have to move them around a lot.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com