Weather data tells one story. Charts, satellite composites, radar sweeps, and forecaster text paint a picture of what the atmosphere is doing across Spain. But sometimes the best way to understand what the weather actually feels like on the ground is simply to look outside.
For those not currently in Spain — or for those curious about conditions at the other end of the country — a network of live YouTube webcams offers a remarkably useful complement to traditional forecast data. These streams run 24/7 and cover locations from the Canary Islands to the Balearics, the Costa del Sol to the Costa Blanca.
The webcams
Canary Islands
Puerto del Carmen beach, Lanzarote — useful for spotting calima haze, wave conditions, and cloud cover over the eastern Canaries.
Andalusia and the Strait
Los Boliches beach, Fuengirola — a reliable read on Costa del Sol conditions.
Mediterranean coast and Balearics
Can Pastilla, Mallorca — a window into Balearic conditions, just east of Palma.
Why this matters for weather-watching
Forecast models and satellite imagery are indispensable, but they operate at a distance. A satellite composite shows cloud coverage across the Iberian Peninsula; a webcam in Tarifa shows whether the Levante wind is kicking up whitecaps in the Strait. An EFI chart might signal above-normal temperatures; a Lanzarote beach cam confirms the calima haze hanging over the coast.
These live feeds are especially useful for:
- Verifying calima conditions in the Canary Islands — dust haze is immediately visible as reduced visibility and a yellowish sky
- Checking actual beach conditions before heading out — cloud, wind, sea state are all visible at a glance
Think of them as the final step in the forecasting process: data, model, satellite, radar — and then the view from the ground.