September is the month Valencia switches back on. The handwritten "closed for holidays" signs come down, the offices refill, the schools open in the second week and the beach quietly becomes a residents' beach again. The sea is warmer than in June, the evenings are long, and the only thing to watch is the sky in the last ten days of the month.
This is the September entry in our month-by-month series. It follows August, the month everything shuts, and runs into October, when the region celebrates its own national day.
The weather in September
AEMET's climate normals for the Valencia city station give September an average temperature of 23.5C, with typical highs of 27.9C and lows of 19.1C. It rains on about five days in the month, around 70mm in total, and the city still gets roughly 234 hours of sunshine. In practice the first fortnight feels like summer and the second like a very good early autumn.
The sea is at its warmest of the year, around 25C, which is why residents treat September as the real swimming month. The rain figure hides the important point: most of it arrives in one or two storms rather than as drizzle, and late September is the start of the gota fría season. The full year is in our Valencia climate guide, and the figures above come from AEMET's published normals.
Algemesí and the Muixeranga
Photo: Pacodonderis, CC BY-SA 4.0
The one event worth planning September around is the Mare de Déu de la Salut () in Algemesí, forty minutes from the city by train, on 7 and 8 September. UNESCO put it on the intangible heritage list in 2011, and the reason is the Muixeranga (), human towers built to a piercing dolçaina melody in the narrow streets and in front of the basilica. It is one of the oldest festivals in the region and one of the least touristy.
We cover the processions, the timings and how to get there in our Algemesí festival guide. If you arrived a week too late for La Tomatina, which is always the last Wednesday of August, this is the better consolation prize by some distance.
The sea, the vendimia and the second summer
Photo: Tibor Kovacs, CC BY 2.0
Valencians call it the second summer. The tourists thin out after the first week, the sand at the Malvarrosa and the Patacona is walkable again, and the water stays swimmable into October for anyone who is not fussy. Our beaches guide explains which stretch suits which mood.
Inland, September is the vendimia (), the grape harvest, and the Utiel-Requena plateau an hour west is the place to see it. The bodegas open their doors, the villages hold harvest fairs and the Bobal grape comes in. Our guide to the harvest season in Utiel-Requena covers when to go and who takes visitors.
What to eat in September
September is when the rice is cut. The Albufera fields are drained and harvested through the month, so the new-season rice reaches the shops by October and the paella you eat in autumn is made with grain that was standing in water a few weeks earlier. The last tomatoes of the huerta overlap with the first pomegranates and figs, and table grapes come in from the interior.
Horchata is on its last legs as a street drink; the cafés keep it, but the kiosks pack up around the end of the month. Our guide to the huerta and its seasons has the month-by-month table, and the horchata guide tells you where the good stuff is.
What changes for residents
The big one is the vuelta al cole (), the return to school. The Valencian school year starts in the second week of September, the book lists and the Banc de Llibres deadlines land in the weeks before, and the morning traffic changes overnight. If you have children, the school year calendar has the official dates and the aid deadlines.
Everything else reopens too, and that is the catch. Extranjería, banks, notaries and letting agents all come back at once, and the appointment slots that were empty in August fill up fast. September is also the tightest month of the year for flats, because the university intake arrives at the same time as the returning families. If you are renting, read our list of renting mistakes to avoid before you sign anything in a hurry.
From the third week, keep an eye on the AEMET warnings. A gota fría () can drop a season of rain in an afternoon, and the city's alert system is worth understanding before you need it.
If you are moving this month
September is one of the two months we recommend most for arriving, alongside spring. The weather is kind, the offices are staffed and there is no festival closing the centre. The price is competition: everyone else who waited out August is now booking the same appointments and viewing the same flats, so book the NIE slot and the bank meeting before you land rather than after.
Our moving to Valencia guide sets out the order of the paperwork, our take on the best time to move explains why September makes the shortlist, and our admin support service exists for exactly this kind of month.
September asks very little of you. Swim while the water is warm, take the train to Algemesí on the 7th or 8th, and get your appointments in early. October brings the region's own national day and the wettest weeks of the year, which is the next entry in the series.
Arriving in September?
We help you line up the appointments, the school places and the flat search before the September rush, so the month works for you rather than against you.
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About the author
Michael Bastin
Founder, ValenciaMove - Valencia since 2016
Michael moved to Valencia in 2016 and has helped dozens of families relocate since. He writes every guide on this site personally and verifies every fact against Spanish government sources before publishing.
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