Barcelona · December · sunshine

Sunniest places to go from Barcelona in December

In December, the sunniest well-known place within 15 hours of Barcelona is Aswan, Egypt, 10.1 h of sun a day and 18.7 °C, about 8h 6m each way by air. Without flying, it is Almería, Spain, 8.9 h of sun a day, about 10h 6m each way by train, for about 45× less carbon (19.0 kg CO₂e return against 863 kg).

The 10 sunniest places within 15 hours of Barcelona

Ranked on sunshine in December alone, among well-known places (a Wikivoyage travel guide and at least 40,000 Wikipedia readers a year), one per area and at most three per country. The carbon is shown, not used to choose: the list further down is the other question, how much sunshine each extra kilogram buys.

Aswan, Egypt10.1 h · 18.7 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 6m · 863 kg CO₂e return
Luxor, Egypt10.0 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 7h 54m · 829 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt9.8 h · 19.9 °C · mostly dry · sea 24.7 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 825 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain9.4 h · 19.7 °C · mostly dry · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 6h 30m · 557 kg CO₂e return
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain9.3 h · 18.9 °C · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 22.2 °Cair ≈ 6h 24m · 554 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain9.3 h · 19.1 °C · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 6h 24m · 547 kg CO₂e return
Ouarzazate, Morocco9.3 h · 10.3 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 5h 24m · 357 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan9.2 h · 18.0 °C · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 812 kg CO₂e return
Ifrane, Morocco9.2 h · 6.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 4h 54m · 273 kg CO₂e return
Oujda, Morocco9.1 h · 11.9 °C · mostly dryair ≈ 4h 36m · 208 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The sunniest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Almería is 8.9 h for 19.0 kg — about 45× less carbon than flying to Aswan.

Almería, Spain8.9 h · 13.5 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.0 °Crail ≈ 10h 6m · 19.0 kg CO₂e return
Benidorm, Spain8.4 h · 12.8 °C · mostly dry · sea 16.5 °Crail ≈ 6h 36m · 11.0 kg CO₂e return
Marbella, Spain8.3 h · 13.6 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.0 °Crail ≈ 8h 54m · 24.0 kg CO₂e return
Granada, Spain8.3 h · 8.9 °C · mostly dryrail ≈ 8h 18m · 20.1 kg CO₂e return
Portimão, Portugal8.0 h · 13.2 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.9 °Crail ≈ 11h 54m · 30.5 kg CO₂e return
Lisbon, Portugal7.8 h · 12.1 °C · mostly dry · sea 17.3 °Crail ≈ 12h 24m · 29.7 kg CO₂e return

≈ is the model's estimate (air times include getting to and through the airport); ✓ is a rail journey checked against a real timetable, with the date it was checked. Temperatures are historical daily means for 2023–2024, averaged across day and night, so afternoons run warmer.

The low-carbon trade-off

The sunniest place you can reach from Barcelona in December within 15 hours is Aswan, 10.1 h, costing 863 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Tortosa at 4.5 kg — 192× less carbon, for 2.2 hours less sunshine.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both sunnier in December and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.

Where they are. Solid lines are rail or ferry, dashed are flights, from Barcelona. Pick one to compare.

By rail or ferry By air

Carbon against sunshine, December, departing Barcelona. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

December from Barcelona — 5 destinations on the frontier, 3 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Tortosa, Spain	Rail	4.5 kg	11.0 °C	7.9 h	0.4 mm	3h 42m
Benidorm, Spain	Rail	11.0 kg	12.8 °C	8.4 h	0.2 mm	6h 36m
Almería, Spain	Rail	19.0 kg	13.5 °C	8.9 h	0.2 mm	10h 6m
Bouarfa, Morocco	Air	264 kg	8.7 °C	9.6 h	0.0 mm	4h 54m
Aswan, Egypt	Air	863 kg	18.7 °C	10.1 h	0.0 mm	8h 6m

Warm is not the same as pleasant, which is why sunshine and rainfall are shown alongside temperature. All three are ERA5 monthly means for 2023–2024.

Where the curve breaks

The frontier is gentle until it isn't. Going from Bouarfa (264 kg, 9.6 h) to Aswan (863 kg, 10.1 h) buys 0.5 hours more sunshine for an extra 599 kg — 1197 kg of CO₂e per hour. That single step is the most expensive sunshine on the whole curve.

The pick of them

TortosaSpain4.5 kg CO₂e return11.0 °C · 7.9 h sun · 3h 42m by railmild and bright

AlmeríaSpain19.0 kg CO₂e return13.5 °C · 8.9 h sun · 10h 6m by railmild and bright

AswanEgypt863 kg CO₂e return18.7 °C · 10.1 h sun · 8h 6m by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

December answers differently depending on what you are after, and the lists genuinely diverge: the brightest places are not the hottest, and in summer the useful question stops being where is warm at all.

Where to stay in Aswan

Places to stay in Aswan, Egypt, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.

Search places to stay in Aswan →Opens the booking search in a new tab. Same partners as the map below.

Affiliate disclosure. A booking made through this map may earn 0xCarbon a commission, at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing above it: the emissions figures come from UK Government conversion factors and are computed before anyone is paid anything.See the method.

Other months from Barcelona

December from elsewhere

Photo credits

Almería: Javier rodriguez jimenez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Luxor: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ouarzazate: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Oujda: Farajiibrahim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Benidorm: Simon Cobb, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Portimão: Jose A., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lisbon: Lacobrigo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

Where is the sunniest place to go from Barcelona in December?

Aswan, Egypt, at 10.1 h. Reaching it emits 863 kg CO₂e return, travelling 8h 6m each way by air (modelled).

Can I get somewhere sunny from Barcelona in December without flying?

Yes. Almería reaches 8.9 h and is reachable by rail or ferry in 10h 6m (modelled), emitting 19.0 kg CO₂e return — though Aswan is sunnier still, if you fly.

How much carbon does a return trip from Barcelona to Aswan produce?

863 kg CO₂e for one person, return, by air. That uses the UK Government's 2026 conversion factors, including radiative forcing for flights.

Carbon uses UK Government (DESNZ/DEFRA) 2026 conversion factors applied to great-circle distance, with radiative forcing included for flights. Rail journey times are modelled estimates, not timetabled services. Full method · download the data.