Spend the winter in Tenerife – monthly rentals in El Médano

Because the south is the driest, sunniest part of the island in winter. At AEMET's two airport weather stations, the average January high is 21.7°C at Tenerife South and 16°C at Tenerife North, and December brings 3.5 rainy days in the south against almost 9 in the north.

El Médano sits in that sunny south, in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona. It isn't a resort but a real town, with year-round residents, a pedestrian centre, a seafront promenade and a beach right in the middle. Many locals originally came from elsewhere in Europe, so you'll hear plenty of languages in the street.

Tenerife South airport is in the same municipality, about 10-15 minutes away by car or taxi, which makes flying home for Christmas or having friends out to visit easy.

Winter in El Médano is mild and dry: T-shirt days, light-jacket evenings and very little rain.

The sea is around 19°C in winter, according to the Tenerife tourist board – fresh, but swimmable. The wind rarely takes a day off: from October to April it usually blows at 10 to 25 knots, so a windproof layer is the most useful thing you'll pack.

These are AEMET's climate averages for the Tenerife South airport station, the closest to town (1981-2010):

• November: 24.8°C high, 18.2°C low, 1.9 rainy days and 193 hours of sunshine.
• December: 22.8°C high, 16.5°C low, 3.5 rainy days and 195 hours of sunshine.
• January: 21.7°C high, 15.2°C low, 1.8 rainy days and 193 hours of sunshine.
• February: 22°C high, 15°C low, 2.2 rainy days and 195 hours of sunshine.
• March: 23.1°C high, 15.6°C low, 1.9 rainy days and 226 hours of sunshine.

On the shortest day of the year, El Médano gets about 10 hours 20 minutes of daylight. The same day, London, Manchester and Dublin get well under 8 hours, and Stockholm or Oslo around 6.

On 21 December the sun rises at about 7:50 and sets at about 18:15; in the depths of winter it never sets before 18:10, and by mid-February it's close to 19:00. That leaves time for a walk along the shore after lunch and a sunset on the beach before dinner.

The Canary Islands keep the same time as the UK, Ireland and Portugal all year round – one hour behind Paris, Berlin or Amsterdam – so calls home are never awkward.

Life here happens on foot: the beach, food shopping, cafés and the promenade are all a few minutes' walk away, and plenty of days start with a stroll by the sea.

The town has supermarkets, two pharmacies and a public medical centre run by the Canary Islands Health Service. For local fruit and veg, the municipality runs a farmers' market (Mercado del Agricultor) that opens at weekends.

Winter has its own calendar, too. The local carnival closes with a daytime party in El Médano's main square (on 7 March in 2026), and the big Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival takes to the streets from 19 to 28 February 2027.

El Médano is made for being outdoors, even in January. Montaña Roja, the volcanic cone at the end of the beach, has a waymarked trail from town to the summit: 1.2 km with 144 m of ascent, according to Granadilla de Abona council.

A coastal path links El Médano with Los Abrigos, and on the far side of Montaña Roja lies La Tejita, a kilometre of sand inside a protected nature area.

If you've always fancied windsurfing or kitesurfing, you're in the right place: El Médano is Tenerife's best-known windsurfing spot and a kitesurfing spot too, and the winter wind is a little gentler than in summer. Book lessons with a school: the Tenerife tourist board says the spot isn't suitable for unsupervised beginners.

For day trips there's Mount Teide, the green north of the island, or La Gomera, a ferry ride from Los Cristianos.

You can fly direct from much of Europe: Tenerife South has routes to cities across the UK and Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and the Nordic countries, varying by season and airline.

From the airport it's about 10-15 minutes to El Médano by taxi. There's no direct bus: take TITSA line 10 to San Isidro and change to the 408. From town, the 470 runs to Los Cristianos, where the ferries to La Gomera leave from.

To get around without a car, the rechargeable ten+ card (or its app) works on buses and trams across the island.

With us, a written temporary rental contract is signed before each stay, and you get a fixed price for your dates on request.