Four Spanish home bases, then a week in Morocco.

The opener — no relocation logic to lean on yet, just a hub for a cluster of easy day trips into Catalonia's medieval towns, a mountain monastery, and Dalí's Costa Brava.

🌤️ Weather: Mild Mediterranean winter — highs ~55–57°F (13–14°C), lows ~41–45°F (5–7°C). Some rain days, otherwise walkable and mild; a warm coat covers it.

Day Trips

• Girona — Jewish quarter, cathedral, far fewer crowds than Barcelona itself
• Besalú — near-perfectly preserved medieval town, fortified bridge
• Montserrat — mountain monastery, reached via the slow, scenic FGC rail line
• Sitges — coastal town, real local life outside peak weekends
• Cadaqués / Figueres — Dalí country; Cadaqués keeps a fishing-village feel most of the year

Central Spain's culture-and-day-trip hub — three cultures layered into Toledo, a Roman aqueduct still standing in Segovia's town center, and a quieter royal-garden alternative in Aranjuez. A 3-night satellite pulls out to Valencia by AVE without giving up the Madrid apartment.

🌤️ Weather: Colder, continental — highs ~48–50°F (9–10°C), lows near freezing 32–36°F (0–2°C). Clear skies common but chilly mornings; pack a proper coat, not just a jacket.

Day Trips

• Toledo — "city of three cultures," dense Christian/Jewish/Islamic layering; best early or overnight to beat day-trip crowds
• Segovia — Roman aqueduct still standing in the town center
• Aranjuez — royal gardens/palace, quieter than Toledo or Segovia
• Chinchón — small town built around a circular plaza once used as a bullring; mostly a locals' day out
• Alcalá de Henares — Cervantes' birthplace, easy half-day

The longest stop and the anchor of the whole trip — seventeen nights in Sevilla itself, split around two satellite trips: Carnaval in Cádiz (fixed to the real Feb 5–9 dates), then the white villages around Ronda to close out the base. The Cádiz satellite was shortened from an earlier draft specifically to free up more time in Sevilla proper.

🌤️ Weather: Mild Andalusian winter — highs ~59–61°F (15–16°C), lows ~41–43°F (5–6°C). The sunniest of the mainland bases, with some rain likely in late Jan/early Feb.

Day Trips (from Sevilla)

• Córdoba — Mezquita, the Judería; best late afternoon, after Sevilla day-trippers clear out
• Carmona — 15 min by train, Roman necropolis, almost no tourists

Closing Spanish base, with the same flex logic as the Japan decision: 19 nights firm, then extend a week at a time if it's going well rather than pre-committing now — which pushes the Morocco dates back correspondingly. The plan favors multiple unhurried Alhambra visits over one marathon day, plus an under-visited cluster of olive-country towns.

🌤️ Weather: Cooler, elevation-driven — highs ~57–59°F (14–15°C) by March, lows can dip near freezing overnight. Snow often visible on the Sierra Nevada; layers recommended.

Day Trips

• Priego de Córdoba — Baroque architecture, olive-oil country, essentially undiscovered by foreign tourists
• Guadix — cave-house neighborhood carved into the hillside, still inhabited
• Baeza + Úbeda (paired) — Renaissance towns in olive country
• Santa Fe — 15 min out, where Columbus's capitulations were signed
• Montefrío — ~45 min, white town built into a rock outcrop, church perched on top

In Granada Itself

• Alhambra + Nasrid Palaces — multiple visits, not one marathon day
• Albaicín — wander unscheduled
• Sierra Nevada — only if skiing interests

The one genuine relocation-with-no-return on the trip — after Granada, cross via Tarifa instead of heading back toward a Spanish base. Two days in the port city, then three in the Blue City up in the Rif Mountains, before backtracking to Tangier and on to Casablanca for the flight home.

🌤️ Weather: Mild spring-like — Tangier highs ~63–64°F (17–18°C) tempered by Atlantic breeze; Chefchaouen slightly cooler in the mountains, ~59°F (15°C) days, ~46–50°F (8–10°C) nights. Generally sunny by mid-March.

Tangier (2 nights)

• Kasbah and the old medina, Grand Socco and Petit Socco markets
• Cape Spartel and the Hercules Caves — about an hour out
• Arrival via ferry from Tarifa, ~53 min crossing

Chefchaouen (3 nights)

• The Blue City — every wall, doorway, and staircase washed in cobalt blue, in the Rif Mountains
• ~2–2.5h from Tangier by CTM bus or grand taxi
• One of the most photogenic towns in Morocco — worth the extra day over a rushed day-trip version