Early May 1 May
72°F
Typical afternoon high
Spain · Beach
Canary Islands
in May.
Is May a good time?
Warm days.
A steady visitor season.
May averages 74°F afternoons and 69°F seas. Later May is typically warmer.
- Afternoons
- 74°F
- Sea
- 69°F
- Visitor demand
- 76%of August peak
Historical Canarias regional averages, not a forecast or a measure of queues. Overnight demand compares average stays per day. All seven Canary Islands together. Tenerife and Gran Canaria carry most of the visitors.
Overall match
8.2/10 · scores & prioritiesWhat matters most?
Weather 50% · Crowds 30% · Cost 20%
#6 of 12 months here · Balanced mix
Weather9.7/10Excellent
CrowdsSteady all yearsimilar all year; overnight stays do not measure queuesFor its size, one of Europe's busiest this month
CostModeratefor Europe
Overall combines weather, overnight demand and cost. It does not include sea temperature.
Plan your May
What to expect.
What should I pack?
Afternoons around 74°F (23°C): T-shirt weather; nights around 60°F (16°C): light layers. About 14 hours of daylight.
Can I swim in May?
The sea averages 69°F. Our swimming guide: comfortable for a swim. Your comfort will vary. This is open water near the coast, not a beach-specific reading.
Monthly coastal averages from NOAA, 2011–2025. Sea temperature is separate from the weather and Overall scores.
A typical day: temperatures & daylightAfternoons, nights, sea temperature & daylight Show detailsHide details
About 14 hours of daylight.
The sun rises about 07:13 and sets about 20:45 (local time, mid-month). Mornings start around 60°F (16°C); afternoons reach about 74°F (23°C).
Typical afternoon
74°F (23°C)
average daily high, 15 recent Mays
Night low
60°F (16°C)
average daily minimum
Sea
69°F (21°C)
comfortable; open water near the coast, NOAA satellite record 2011–2025
Daylight
13h 32m
on the 15th, computed from latitude
Early, middle or late?
Early or late May?
Late May is typically warmer. The afternoon high averages 72°F on the 1st, versus 74°F on the 31st.
Mid May 15 May
74°F
Typical afternoon high
Late May 31 May
74°F
Typical afternoon high
Historical daily averages from 2011–2025, smoothed over two weeks. A seasonal pattern, not a forecast. This does not establish which week has the lowest prices or fewest visitors.
Daily calendar & holiday datesMay 2027 · historical weather & dated holidays Show calendarHide calendar
May 2027 calendar
Weather shows historical patterns, not a forecast. Holidays and events use the dates shown for 2027.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 172° | 272° | |||||
| 373° | 473° | 573° | 673° | 774° | 874° | 974° |
| 1074° | 1174° | 1274° | 1374° | 1474° | 1574° | 1674° |
| 1774° | 1874° | 1974° | 2074° | 2174° | 2274° | 2374° |
| 2474° | 2574° | 2674° | 2774° | 2874° | 2974° | 3074° |
| 3174° |
Afternoon high rain likely (25%+) local school holidays public holiday event
Afternoons warm from about 73°F (23°C) in the first week to 74°F (23°C) in the last.
No school holidays here in May 2027. Elsewhere in May 2027, the share of people living where schools are out on a typical day: Germany 13%, Greece 29%. (School holidays: official calendar, compiled by Bigfoot Wanders; other countries from OpenHolidays, ODbL.)
Crowds and cost
Visitor season
Will it be busy?
Steady all year. May averages 76% of August's overnight stays per day. Overnight demand varies little across the year.
Overnight stays across Canarias do not measure queues, day visitors or congestion at individual sights. For its size, one of Europe's busiest this month.
Hotel price season
Will it be cheaper?
Well below usual. Historical regional hotel revenue (2024–2025 monthly average): €120 per occupied room-night. An average, not a booking quote.
Fewer overnight stays do not automatically mean cheaper rooms. Check actual quotes for your trip.
Historical hotel average
€120
2024–2025 monthly average; hotel revenue per occupied room-night; not a current booking quote. −14% vs this region's usual month.
Spain as a whole
Below EU average
2024 restaurants and hotels price level: 84 where the EU average is 100. A relative index, not a room rate.
The historical regional amount comes from INE Spain, EOH/IRSH table 2059: hotel average daily rate per occupied room; the country price level is national. Hotel averages are not live booking quotes.
Year-to-year variation
How much does May vary?
Across the recorded years
In the 15 years from 2011 to 2025, the month's afternoons averaged between 71°F (21°C) and 75°F (24°C); in 14 of them they were within 3°F (1.5°C) of the typical 74°F (23°C).
Rain days
—
not shown here: our data counts fewer rain days than the local weather stations here (0.71 times theirs)
Mostly sunny days
11 of 31
cloud cover under 30%
Years with a 95°F+ day
0 of 15
no May in the last 15 years had a day at or above 95°F (35°C)
Good weather days
28 of 31
rated very good or better
See every recorded MayHistorical monthly averages, year by year Show detailsHide details
| Year | Afternoon high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 74°F | Unavailable |
| 2012 | 75°F | Unavailable |
| 2013 | 73°F | Unavailable |
| 2014 | 74°F | Unavailable |
| 2015 | 75°F | Unavailable |
| 2016 | 72°F | Unavailable |
| 2017 | 75°F | Unavailable |
| 2018 | 71°F | Unavailable |
| 2019 | 74°F | Unavailable |
| 2020 | 75°F | Unavailable |
| 2021 | 73°F | Unavailable |
| 2022 | 75°F | Unavailable |
| 2023 | 74°F | Unavailable |
| 2024 | 74°F | Unavailable |
| 2025 | 74°F | Unavailable |
Checked against 55 local weather stations. How we check
Compare dates
April, May
or June?
| Typical conditions | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoons | 72°F | 74°F | 76°F |
| Sea | 67°F | 69°F | 71°F |
| Rain days | Unavailable | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Overnight demand | 83% | 76% | 82% |
April: Cooler afternoons than May. April guide →
June: Warmer afternoons and warmer sea than May. June guide →
Overnight demand measures accommodation stays, not queues. Sea temperatures are monthly coastal averages.
Compare any of the 12 monthsChoose another month and compare it with May Show comparisonHide comparison
Yellow marks the top three months on the Balanced mix. May stays as your reference.
Hotel stays vary little through the year. No other scored month has a Weather score at least 1.0 point higher than May.
Your comparison
May or April?
Overnight stays vary little through the year.
Historical regional hotel revenue (2024–2025 monthly average): €138 per occupied room-night. An average, not a booking quote.
Read the April guide →| Typical conditions | May | April |
|---|---|---|
| Afternoons | 74°F | 72°F |
| Nights | 60°F | 58°F |
| Sea | 69°F | 67°F |
| Rain days | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Visitor season | Steady all year | Steady all year |
| Overall / 10 | 8.2 | 7.8 |
| Month rank | #6 | #7 |
Every month, in detail Show detailsHide details
| Month | Overall | Rank | High | Low | Sea | Rain days | Weather | Visitor season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.3 | #11 | 67°F | 56°F | 68°F | — | 8.2 | Steady all year |
| February | 7.3 | #12 | 68°F | 56°F | 67°F | — | 8.2 | Steady all year |
| March | 7.5 | #9 | 69°F | 56°F | 66°F | — | 8.7 | Steady all year |
| April | 7.8 | #7 | 72°F | 58°F | 67°F | — | 9.2 | Steady all year |
| May | 8.2 | #6 | 74°F | 60°F | 69°F | — | 9.7 | Steady all year |
| June | 8.4 | #1 | 76°F | 63°F | 71°F | — | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| July | 8.2 | #3 | 80°F | 65°F | 72°F | — | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| August | 8.2 | #4 | 82°F | 67°F | 74°F | — | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| September | 8.3 | #2 | 80°F | 66°F | 75°F | — | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| October | 8.2 | #5 | 78°F | 65°F | 75°F | — | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| November | 7.7 | #8 | 73°F | 62°F | 72°F | — | 9.2 | Steady all year |
| December | 7.4 | #10 | 69°F | 58°F | 70°F | — | 8.7 | Steady all year |
Elsewhere in Europe
As good as Canary Islands in May, but quieter
Canary Islands' weather ranks 11 of 77 beach regions this month. Canary Islands already has excellent weather in May; these beach regions outside Spain are about as good and quieter for their season, nearest first.
The AlgarvePortugal · about 750 miles
Excellent weather (9.6): 3°F warmer afternoons, cheaper
SicilyItaly · about 1830 miles
Excellent weather (9.6): 2°F warmer afternoons, pricier
Corfu & the Ionian IslandsGreece · about 2180 miles
Excellent weather (9.4): about as warm
Western Greeceabout 2240 miles
Excellent weather (9.5): 4°F warmer afternoons, cheaper
PeloponneseGreece · about 2280 miles
Excellent weather (10.0): 5°F warmer afternoons, cheaper
How we knowSources, regional scope & scoring method Show detailsHide details
Hotel stays are steady all year here: this month is 76% of the busiest and 14% below average. That counts overnight stays, not how busy the sights are. That means about 237,000 overnight visitors on a typical May night across the region, 15% of them from Spain itself. Rentals booked through Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and Tripadvisor add up to 50,000 more: 21 for every 100 counted above. Some are the same properties counted twice.
| Climate suitability (HCI:Beach, 0–100) | 83 |
| How our weather was checked | 55 open weather stations in this region, January and July: afternoon highs typically within 3°F (1.4°C), night lows within 2°F (1.1°C). |
| Tourist nights per 1,000 residents per day | 105 |
| Busiest month here | August · 138 |
| Visitors as share of people present | 9.5% |
| Rank among Europe's regions this month | 97th percentile |
| Domestic share of nights | 15% |
| Platform rental nights per 100 counted nights | 21 |
| Visitor share if every platform night were extra | 11.3% |
| Population used | 2.3 million |
| Statistical region | ES70 · Canarias |
Crowds: Eurostat nights spent at tourist accommodation, by month and NUTS 2 region, 2024–2025 average. Overnight visitors per night is the month's nights divided by its days; the per-1,000 figure is Eurostat's, against each year's population. Platform rentals: Eurostat nights booked via Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and Tripadvisor, 2024–2025 average, shown separately because some properties are in both counts. Weather: Holiday Climate Index computed from ERA5 reanalysis with daily highs, night lows and rain days corrected from open national weather-service station records, 2011–2025, population-weighted to the region; day-by-day figures are the same data averaged by date. Heat and rain odds are counted across those years. Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations, local time. Prices: Eurostat price level index and HICP, national; the first figure is regional (INE Spain, EOH/IRSH table 2059: hotel average daily rate per occupied room). Full method · this region's data.