Warmest places to go from Madrid in January
In January, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Madrid is Maspalomas, Spain, averaging 19.6 °C across day and night and 9.6 h sun a day, about 5h 54m each way by air. Without flying, it is Portimão, Portugal, averaging 13.4 °C across day and night, about 8h 18m each way by train, for about 27× less carbon (16.4 kg CO₂e return against 448 kg).
Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in January.
The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Madrid
Ranked on warmth in January 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 warmth each extra kilogram buys.
Maspalomas, Spain19.6 °C · 9.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 5h 54m · 448 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt18.9 °C · 9.9 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 24.1 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 873 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain18.8 °C · 9.4 h sun a day · 1.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.2 °Cair ≈ 5h 48m · 437 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain18.3 °C · 9.5 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 21.3 °Cair ≈ 5h 48m · 441 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt18.2 °C · 10.0 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.6 °Cair ≈ 8h 30m · 872 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco17.1 °C · 9.6 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 18.7 °Cair ≈ 5h 6m · 310 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan16.8 °C · 9.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 8h 24m · 929 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt16.8 °C · 10.0 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 8h 36m · 902 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco16.0 °C · 9.5 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 18.1 °Cair ≈ 5h · 284 kg CO₂e return
Ponta Delgada, Portugal15.2 °C · 7.0 h sun a day · 4.6 mm rain a day · sea 17.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 6m · 482 kg CO₂e return
Without flying
The warmest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Portimão is 13.4 °C for 16.4 kg — about 27× less carbon than flying to Maspalomas.
Portimão, Portugal13.4 °C · 8.0 h sun a day · 1.9 mm rain a day · sea 17.0 °Crail ≈ 8h 18m · 16.4 kg CO₂e return- Marbella, Spain13.3 °C · 8.2 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 16.5 °Crail ≈ 5h 18m · 13.2 kg CO₂e return
Almería, Spain13.3 °C · 8.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 16.2 °Crail ≈ 6h 54m · 12.2 kg CO₂e return- Algeciras, Spain13.0 °C · 8.1 h sun a day · 2.5 mm rain a day · sea 16.8 °Crail ≈ 6h 12m · 14.8 kg CO₂e return
Lisbon, Portugal12.3 °C · 7.5 h sun a day · 2.9 mm rain a day · sea 16.2 °Crail ≈ 9h 18m · 14.9 kg CO₂e return
Benidorm, Spain12.3 °C · 8.3 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 15.6 °Crail ≈ 4h 54m · 10.9 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 warmest place you can reach from Madrid in January within 15 hours is Maspalomas, 19.6 °C, costing 448 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Ciudad Real at 4.7 kg — 95× less carbon, for 12.8 degrees less warmth.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in January and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ciudad Real, Spain | Rail | 4.7 kg | 6.8 °C | 6.5 h | 1.2 mm | 3h 48m |
| Plasencia, Spain | Rail | 6.1 kg | 8.2 °C | 7.0 h | 4.5 mm | 4h 30m |
| Andujar, Spain | Rail | 7.9 kg | 9.5 °C | 7.5 h | 1.6 mm | 4h 48m |
| Valencia, Spain | Rail | 8.9 kg | 11.7 °C | 8.0 h | 0.4 mm | 3h 6m |
| Sagunto, Spain | Rail | 9.0 kg | 11.8 °C | 7.9 h | 0.5 mm | 4h 6m |
| Águilas, Spain | Rail | 11.3 kg | 13.2 °C | 8.3 h | 0.1 mm | 6h 18m |
| Roquetas de Mar, Spain | Rail | 12.3 kg | 13.9 °C | 8.7 h | 0.2 mm | 6h 48m |
| El Jadida, Morocco | Air | 227 kg | 14.9 °C | 9.0 h | 0.8 mm | 4h 42m |
| Essaouira, Morocco | Air | 284 kg | 16.0 °C | 9.5 h | 0.3 mm | 5h |
| Taroudant, Morocco | Air | 302 kg | 17.7 °C | 9.5 h | 0.0 mm | 5h 6m |
| Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain | Air | 437 kg | 18.8 °C | 9.4 h | 1.8 mm | 5h 48m |
| Maspalomas, Spain | Air | 448 kg | 19.6 °C | 9.6 h | 0.2 mm | 5h 54m |
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 Roquetas de Mar (12.3 kg, 13.9 °C) to El Jadida (227 kg, 14.9 °C) buys 1.0 °C more warmth for an extra 215 kg — 215 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.
The pick of them
Ciudad RealSpain4.7 kg CO₂e returncool
Roquetas de MarSpain12.3 kg CO₂e returnmild and brightMaspalomasSpain448 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
January 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 Maspalomas
Places to stay in Maspalomas, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Maspalomas →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 Madrid
January from elsewhere
- Amsterdam
- Barcelona
- Berlin
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Brussels
- Cardiff
- Copenhagen
- Dublin
- Edinburgh
- Frankfurt
- Glasgow
- Leeds
- Lisbon
- Liverpool
- London
- Madrid
- Manchester
- Milan
- Munich
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Oslo
- Paris
- Prague
- Rome
- Sheffield
- Southampton
- Stockholm
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Zurich
Photo credits
- Ciudad Real: Vanbasten 23, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Roquetas de Mar: Ziegler175, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ponta Delgada: Maximilian Schönherr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Portimão: Jose A., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Almería: Javier rodriguez jimenez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Lisbon: Lacobrigo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Benidorm: Simon Cobb, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Questions
Where is the warmest place to go from Madrid in January?
Maspalomas, Spain, at 19.6 °C. Reaching it emits 448 kg CO₂e return, travelling 5h 54m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere warm from Madrid in January without flying?
Yes. Roquetas de Mar reaches 13.9 °C and is reachable by rail or ferry in 6h 48m (modelled), emitting 12.3 kg CO₂e return — though Maspalomas is warmer still, if you fly.
How much carbon does a return trip from Madrid to Maspalomas produce?
448 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.