🇪🇸 Madrid vs 🇮🇹 Milan

Hot semi-arid — very hot dry summers, cold winters, minimal rainfall

Madrid sits on the Castilian plateau at 2,100 feet (640m), giving it more extreme temperatures than coastal Spanish cities. Summers are scorching and dry (one of Europe's hottest capitals); winters are cold and crisp. Spring and fall are ideal.

Milan sits in the western Po Valley, one of Europe's most fog-prone and humidity-trapping basins, hemmed in by the Alps to the north and the Apennines to the south. The city experiences hot, humid summers with weak ventilation and cold, damp winters where temperature inversions trap pollution and moisture at ground level. The Navigli canal system and proximity to several pre-Alpine lakes introduce subtle moisture gradients, while the dense urban core generates one of Italy's strongest urban heat island effects.