When considering the perfect destination to retire in, climate is a major factor. Yesterday’s article listed the top 13 locations in the world with the “ideal climate”, according to a blogger’s research, as well as select destinations in Asia.
When it comes to the weather, a number of European regions rank highly, too, according to lists obtainable on the internet. These include the Canary Islands in Spain; Madeira in Portugal; Andalucia, also in Spain; the Greek Islands; and Cyprus.
The following are selections of one city from each of the five locations, with an overview of weather conditions using statistics found on the website climate-data.org.
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
This city’s temperatures move in a comfortable range of 14.3-23°C with an annual average temperature of 18.5°C. The average humidity is 75%, the highest of the five areas. Note, however, that all of them have humidity in the 70-75% range.
Rainfall is sparse with just 282mm per year, so parts of the island are very arid, although the northern slopes have rainfall and are green as shown in the postcard below.
Sea temperatures in Tenerife are swimmable all year round, where 15°C is considered the minimum water temperature for bearable swimming.
Overall, Tenerife has the best climate of the five if your objective is to minimise heating and air-conditioning bills, even though it is not as sunny as the others.
- Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Madeira has a similar mild climate with moderate year-round temperatures, but with more rainfall and fewer hours of sunshine. On the coast, daytime temperatures hover around 20-21°C from December to April, and reach 26-27 °C from July to September.
It rarely gets cold, even though there can be cool days with highs of 15°C from January to March.
- Malaga, Andalucia, Spain
Andalucia is a big area with a variety of micro-climates. Cabo de Gata in Almeida, for example, is said to be the driest place in Europe with only 117mm of rain annually. This might be ideal for arthritis sufferers, but the scenery might be too barren for some.
Malaga has cooler winters and hotter summers than Tenerife and more rainfall, although the number of rainy days is almost the same and Malaga is definitely sunnier.
Most properties on sale in this area are equipped with air-conditioning and heating, which presumably means they are needed at times.
- Paphos, Cyprus
You will have no problem swimming in the Eastern Mediterranean in September – Paphos has the highest average temperatures of the five, with the fewest rainy days and the most hours of sunshine.
You would definitely feel the need for AC at times.
Other factors
To find the perfect retirement destination, it’s best to combine the climate statistics with crime rates, cost of living and other factors, as well as the ease of getting a visa.
The following data is sourced from Numbeo, a crowd-sourced global database of quality-of-life indicators. Some of the stats lack sufficient data and need to be interpreted with caution, but they provide a general idea.
The traffic index refers to time consumed in traffic during job commutes, estimated time-consumption dissatisfaction, estimated CO2 consumption, and overall inefficiencies in the traffic system.
All of these countries have golden visa schemes that allow non-EU citizens to apply for permanent residence in return for a minimum investment in property or other assets.
With the lowest crime rates, cheapest cost of living, lowest pollution, and the best visa scheme, Funchal in Portugal pulls ahead of the competition.
This article first appeared in Thrifty Traveller.