What's on in Granada (Alhambra), Spain through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Rule

  Alhambra timed entry

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  Daily numbers are capped and the Nasrid Palaces are sold as a half-hour slot you cannot miss. Between March and October tickets go weeks out; a same-day ticket is not a plan. Source ↗

Still on: Olive harvest (15 Nov – 10 Feb (usually)), Sierra Nevada ski season (28 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Olive harvest (15 Nov – 10 Feb (usually)), Sierra Nevada ski season (28 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedClosuresBook early

  Brotherhoods climb into the Albaicin and the Sacromonte at night with the Sierra Nevada still white behind them. Streets close on a rolling basis all week. Source ↗

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sierra Nevada ski season (28 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr), Sierra Nevada ski season (28 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Dia de la Cruz, Feria del Corpus

• Festival

  Dia de la Cruz

  1–5 MayMajor festivalCrowded

  Flower crosses in the squares of the Realejo and the Albaicin on 3 May, each with a bar and a sound system beside it. The city drinks in the street for two days. Source ↗

• Festival

  Feria del Corpus

  30 May – 6 JunMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Granada's own feria, tied to Corpus Christi sixty days after Easter: a tarasca parade in the morning and casetas on the Almanjayar fairground until dawn. Source ↗

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Feria del Corpus, Summer holidays in Spain

• Festival

  Festival de Musica y Danza

  20 Jun – 20 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalBook early

  Concerts staged inside the Alhambra itself, in the Palacio de Carlos V and the Generalife gardens, for about four weeks from late June. Tickets are the hard part, not the heat. Source ↗

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Feria del Corpus (30 May – 6 Jun)

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Summer heat in the vega

  1 Jul – 31 AugExtreme heat

  The city sits in a basin under the mountains and bakes through July and August, though nights cool more than in Seville or Cordoba. Sightsee early; the Alhambra has almost no shade. Source ↗

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Festival de Musica y Danza (20 Jun – 20 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Summer heat in the vega (1 Jul – 31 Aug)

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Olive harvest

  15 Nov – 10 Feb · usually

  The vega and the road east to Jaen are picked through the winter and the mills sell the first pressing straight off. It is the best reason to be here in a cold month.

• Season

  Sierra Nevada ski season

  28 Nov – 30 Apr · usually

  Europe's southernmost resort is forty minutes up the road and runs from late November into April, later than the Alps in a good year because of the altitude. Source ↗

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Christmas holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Alhambra timed entry (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Olive harvest (15 Nov – 10 Feb (usually)), Sierra Nevada ski season (28 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))