English and the World · Spain · 13 · Almería · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
Black and golden cliffs made by volcanoes, pink flamingos in the salt flats, a lighthouse on the cape, and an old farmhouse where a true story became a famous play. Choose your level.
Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park
East of Almería there is a wild coast with beautiful beaches and high cliffs. Millions of years ago there were volcanoes here, and the rocks are black, red, yellow and white. Today it is a natural park, with small white villages like San José and Las Negras.
Near the cape there are salt flats, and in summer you can see pink flamingos in the water. On the cape there is a lighthouse, and in front of it there are sharp rocks in the sea: the Sirens’ Reef.
The weather
Cabo de Gata is one of the driest places in Europe. It’s sunny almost every day, and it hardly ever rains, even in winter. In summer it’s very hot, but by the sea it’s often windy, and the wind is cool. In winter it’s mild: it’s about 17 degrees in the afternoon.
“What’s the weather like today?” “It’s sunny and windy. Bring a hat, and don’t forget sun cream!”
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains the present simple for facts and habits in The Instant and the Standing Rule (Philo & Sophia, Lesson 1).
Language: talking about the weather
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| describing the weather | It’s + adjective | It’s sunny / windy / hot / cold / cloudy / mild. |
| verbs | It + verb | It rains in winter. It’s raining now. |
| temperature | It’s + number + degrees | It’s about 17 degrees. |
| asking | What’s the weather like? | “What’s the weather like?” “It’s sunny.” |
| nouns and adjectives | sun → sunny, wind → windy, cloud → cloudy, rain → rainy | a windy day, a lot of sun |
⚠️ Don’t forget it: It’s hot, not ✗ Is hot. And we say the weather is good, not ✗ it does good weather.
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Why are the rocks of Cabo de Gata many colours?
2. Where can you see flamingos?
3. How often does it rain?
4. What is the weather like in winter?
Write the adjective.
5. There is a lot of sun. It’s .
6. There is a lot of wind. It’s .
7. There are a lot of clouds. It’s .
8. It was a day: it rained all morning.
Write the missing word.
9. In summer is very hot.
10. What’s the weather today?
11. In winter it’s about 17 in the afternoon.
12. It hardly ever at Cabo de Gata. (rain, present simple)
Go there!
Visit: stay in San José and swim at the beaches of Los Genoveses and Mónsul. Walk to the lighthouse of Cabo de Gata and look at the Sirens’ Reef. Watch the flamingos at the salt flats. Bring water: there is very little shade.
Your task: write six sentences about the weather in your town in different seasons: In winter it’s… In summer it…
It tells how ancient volcanoes made one of the wildest coasts in Europe, why its reef is named after sirens, how a gold rush left a ghost town, and how a runaway bride in 1928 became one of the great tragedies of Spanish theatre, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells how ancient volcanoes made one of the wildest coasts in Europe, why its reef is named after sirens, how a gold rush left a ghost town, and how a runaway bride in 1928 became one of the great tragedies of Spanish theatre, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.