BEING a Mediterranean city, winters in Almeria are cold no doubt. But it can be a very pleasurable one especially for romantic couples who are into their honeymoon. You may even have your seaside wedding here. And the thing is no one will disturb you and your guests because Almeria’s beach resorts are virtually deserted during winter.

They are deserted because most of the people who have vacationed here can’t stand the cold and rather go to some tropical places like Phuket in Thailand or Boracay in the Philippines or Bali maybe or even across two oceans – Atlantic and Pacific – to Maui. Here in Almeria, temperatures tend to get cold as low as -3 degrees Celsius. It is not unlike the Balearic Islands splashed in the middle of the Mediterranean where it is relatively warmer during winter at 3 degrees Celsius.

What compounds the coldness of the temperature here is Spain’s proximity to the Alps which churns out the cold air going down to the European mainland even reaching as far as the Iberian Peninsula. So when you’ll have your wedding here, remind your guests especially those coming from overseas from Mexico or the Philippines perhaps that you need layers and layers of clothing to protect you from the cold. Never ever wear something cottony for cotton tends to absorb moisture.

But despite the lack of tourists in those beach resorts except those British immigrants, these beaches still strictly enforce environmental guidelines like not littering around. One cannot even park a vehicle with muddy tire tracks in the beach’s paved parking space so even this trivial matter must not be left out in the seaside wedding invitation. Amenities though are so professional because most of the beach resorts here in Almeria have received blue flag accreditation. A blue flag accreditation is given out by the European Union to a beach resort which has undergone and passed strict quality audits.

Besides, Christmas in Almeria can be heartwarming for the locals. Most of the people hear speak English already because of the inducement of British tourists since the 1950s. In fact, they even use the distinctive non-rhotic accent of the British sometimes. So when you share each other Christmas experiences, you will never run out of natives who will hear your story. It is even nicer if you can spend a night or two with a household family here in Almeria. You will be rewarded with very hospitable people and it’s none the nicer if you spend it in a fisherman’s village.

In a fisherman’s port, people would usually queue to wait for the Mediterranean-bound fishermen to return full of the day’s catch. Most of these catch are hauled wholesale to restaurants around here and go straight to the kitchen as much as possible without being refrigerated or frozen anymore because the Spaniards love to eat their seafood freshly cooked. On the other hand, some of the catch go directly to the fisherman’s home and it is really a fulfilling experience to eat redfish, grouper, lobsters, clams, mussels or prawns either sautéed in olive oil or simply brothed.