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Anyone thinking of venturing across country through the mountainous area of the Sierra Nevada outside Granada needs to beware during the winter months.
As someone who splits his time equally between the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca, the direct route through Granada, although a tedious 4 ½ hours drive, usually offers superb views and a mild climate. However, as soon as winter begins, you really need to be careful and to plan your journey in advance.
With typically Mediterranean mild winters, the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca are rarely affected by snowfall, ice, blizzards or freezing temperatures, so it´s easy to forget what perils lie between the two areas.
Although the road that passes through the treacherous region is one of Spain´s most popular motorways, the area around Granada, as you climb into the mountains, needs careful attention. Anyone familiar with the journey from Leeds to Manchester in the UK, where the M62 cuts a swathe across the Pennines, will know what I mean – it´s another world up there!
I was once driving through pleasant countryside on a winter´s day between Malaga and Granada, with my outside temperature gauge reading a decent 8 degrees. Within a couple of minutes, the temperature had plummeted to zero, and another 10 minutes later, we were in a blizzard, with traffic down to one lane, and the temperature down once again to minus 6 degrees. It was like I had entered the twilight zone! Cars were sliding all over the place, and I had visions of abandoning the car in the middle of this arctic wasteland.
If this happens to you, do one of two things – either stop the car at the nearest motel, and wait for the weather to pass, or head for the coast, where you can guarantee that the climate will be very different.
Luckily, I managed to take an exit that eventually led me south, towards the coast of Almeria, and sure enough, the snow soon turned to drizzle, and I was out of danger.
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