November in Málaga: the wettest month of the year, and the copper forest at its peak

Málaga province in November carries a statistic nobody expects: it is the wettest provincial capital in Andalucía. One hundred millimetres of rain, against Almería’s 28 and Granada’s 54. That is almost double October’s figure and it is the single biggest change in the month.

It is also not the reason to come or stay away. Twenty degrees by day and eleven at night is the mildest combination inland Andalucía can offer in November, and the province spends the month doing two things worth seeing: roasting chestnuts in the Genal valley while the woods turn copper, and picking the olives that feed the Montes de Málaga mills.

What the weather actually does

Málaga airport averages 20.1°C by day and 11.3°C at night in November, with 100mm of rain spread across 5.6 rain days and 1.3 thunderstorm days. Those are AEMET’s 1981–2010 normals.

The jump from October’s 57mm to 100mm is the largest month-on-month rainfall increase of any capital in the region: Málaga goes from a dry coast to the wettest station in Andalucía in four weeks. What saves it is that the rain comes over more days than October’s — 5.6 against 4.4 — arriving as several ordinary wet days rather than one biblical one. The wettest November on record delivered 497mm in 1989; the driest produced nothing at all, in 1950. Averages are a poor guide to any individual November here.

There is no frost at the airport, but the province is not the airport. Ronda sits at 740 metres and the Genal villages higher still, and they drop properly after dark. The coast will be in shirtsleeves while Alpandeire needs a coat.

On the sea we will disappoint you deliberately. We published Puertos del Estado buoy temperatures for October, but could not source November figures from their own data, and we will not lift a number off a holiday-weather site. Some people swim here in November; we cannot tell you how cold it is without inventing a figure.

Which week to book

The second week, if you can choose freely. The jazz festival runs to the 10th, Fancine starts on the 11th, the marathon weekend is behind you, and the chestnut woods are at their best from then onward — by the very end of the month the higher villages are past it.

Avoid the opening weekend unless you want crowds. Saturday 31 October to Monday 2 November is a three-day weekend across Spain — All Saints falls on a Sunday in 2026, so the paid holiday moves to the Monday — and the Ronda road and the Genal villages will be as full as they get all autumn. Sunday 8 November is the other date to plan around: the marathon and half marathon both start at 08:30 on the Paseo del Parque, closing much of the centre for the morning and filling the hotels from the Thursday.

What is on in November 2026

3–10 November (confirmed) — 40th Festival Internacional de Jazz de Málaga, at the Teatro Cervantes. The fortieth edition, and the city’s main cultural fixture of the month.
3 November (confirmed) — local holiday in Pujerra and in Villanueva de la Concepción. Both villages shut.
Sunday 8 November, 08:30 (confirmed) — Generali Maratón Málaga and half marathon, starting on the Paseo del Parque. The race expo runs at FYCMA on the 6th and 7th.
11–17 November (confirmed) — Fancine, the university’s international fantastic film festival, 36th edition.
12–14, 18–19 and 24–26 November (confirmed) — SIMED, Málaga Sun & Tech and Talent Land España, all at FYCMA. Trade events rather than attractions, but they take hotel rooms.
Around the All Saints weekend (expected) — Pujerra’s Fiesta de la Castaña, the province’s chestnut festival. The 2025 edition ran 31 October to 1 November. Pujerra’s 2026 local holiday is Tuesday 3 November, which may pull the programme later, and the village had not published its dates when this was written.
Late November (expected) — the Calle Larios Christmas lights switch-on. Málaga normally announces in mid-November and lights up on the last Friday; in 2025 that was Friday 28 November, with light-and-sound shows running to 4 January. Treat 27 November 2026 as likely, not fixed.
Through November (expected, dates set locally) — the village autumn fiestas: chestnut and wine at Yunquera, the Fiesta del Tostón at Ojén, mosto at Atajate and Colmenar, ham at Campillos, charcuterie at Benaoján, mushrooms at Cortes de la Frontera. The provincial tourist board confirms all of them as November events; each town hall sets its own dates, usually two to four weeks ahead.

What to ignore

Two things get repeated about Málaga in November that are wrong. The first is the marathon: this race ran in December for most of its history, so legacy listings still put it there. The official regulations are unambiguous — Sunday 8 November 2026.

The second is Fuente de Piedra. It is sold as a flamingo lagoon year-round, and November is the one time it is not. The Junta’s own visitor guidance puts the flamingo season in spring; in autumn the lagoon is refilling after the summer and the birds have largely dispersed, with cranes starting to arrive in the surrounding farmland. Go in March, not now.

What life is like

The coast thins out. The chiringuitos that stayed open through October close for the winter, seasonal hotel capacity winds down, and what is left is the resident coast — pleasant enough if you came for a promenade and a long lunch rather than a sunbed. The city goes the other way: the Teatro Cervantes is in full programme, Danza Málaga runs through the month, and FYCMA stages seven trade events in three weeks. November is Málaga city’s indoor season, and it is busier than the beach.

Inland the province is working. Mill-olive picking runs through the month across the Montes de Málaga and the Antequera plain, and the first aceite nuevo appears in the co-ops — the province is forecast at 63,373 tonnes of table olives for the 2026/27 campaign, in a landscape dominated by hojiblanca. In the sierra villages the matanza begins, which is why Benaoján and Colmenar hold charcuterie fairs now: curing pork only works once the nights are cold. On the Axarquía coast, meanwhile, the custard apples are being picked by hand around Nerja, Frigiliana and Vélez-Málaga.

Coast or inland

Inland, and it is not a close call this month. The coast’s argument is the water, and the water is finished. Ronda, Antequera, the Guadalhorce and the Genal are all at their most comfortable since April, and the Caminito del Rey is walkable without heat. Base yourself on the coast for the restaurants and the airport if you like — nothing here is more than two hours from anything else — but spend the days above 600 metres.

The one thing to do in November

Drive the Valle del Genal while the chestnut woods are at full colour. Between Alpandeire, Cartajima, Parauta, Igualeja, Júzcar, Faraján, Jubrique, Genalguacil and Pujerra, the castañares run from yellow through gold to deep rust — the bosque de cobre, the copper forest, which is the provincial tourist board’s own name for it.

November is its peak, and that is the point. In October the leaves are still turning and the harvest is not in; by mid-December the trees are bare and the villages have moved on to pork. For four or five weeks the valley floor sits at twenty degrees while the woods above it change colour and the villages roast the crop that causes it. Start from Ronda, drop south, and give it a full day — the coach tours stop at Ronda and turn around, so the roads below are yours.

Common questions

Is November too wet for Málaga?

It is the wettest capital in Andalucía at 100mm, so go in knowing that. But it falls across 5.6 days, which leaves three weeks of the month dry, and the realistic cost is a couple of rearranged days rather than a ruined trip.

When exactly do the chestnut woods turn?

From the first week of November through to around the end of the month, with the best of it in the middle two weeks. The higher villages colour and drop first.

Will the Christmas lights be on when I visit?

Only if you are there for the last few days. Málaga has recently switched on the Larios lights on the final Friday of November — 28 November in 2025 — but the 2026 date had not been announced when this was written. Do not book a trip around it.

Where to go next

The Málaga province guide
November across Andalucía — how the province compares with the other seven
October in Málaga, if you are choosing between the two months
Ronda travel guide and the Caminito del Rey
Day trips from Málaga and a Málaga city break
Christmas lights in Málaga and along the Costa del Sol
The fiesta calendar and what to pack

Sources

Weather from AEMET’s Valores climatológicos normales 1981–2010, Málaga Aeropuerto. Events verified against the Ayuntamiento de Málaga, the official race regulations, Fancine, FYCMA, Diputación de Málaga and Turismo Costa del Sol. Local holidays from BOJA no. 197 and its December 2025 amendment; olive forecast from the Junta’s 2026/27 aforo; Fuente de Piedra from the Junta’s Ventana del Visitante.