I'm interested in walking from Almería or Málaga, starting mid February. Will there be much in the way of spring flowers by then? I'm comparing to the same her in northern France where there won't be much pushing through. Also, do the southern routes have the same "closed" season as several of the northern albergues do in winter?
I think the most spectacular wildflower display I have ever seen on a camino was what we were treated to in April-May 2018 on the Mozárabe. It had rained all winter, we were told, and it magically stopped a few days before the bunch of forum members met up in Almería. I think it was on April 12 or 13.
I don’t know about February, but maybe it’s a bit too early for flowers. Almond trees may be in bloom then — when we walked there was a second round of almond tree flowering because the first round had been killed by frost (I think I’m remembering this right).
The drought in Spain may also have an impact, if it’s still raging next spring.
This recent article paints a not so rosy picture. Even if you don’t read Spanish, the map tells you all you need to know. This year on the Lana, though we had tried to time a departure to coincide with the spring flowers that we had seen from others’ pictures in earlier years, there was a lot of crop failure and few flowers till we got north of Cuenca.
I am probably going to start another camino in the south this spring, knowing that though there may not be flowers, there will be plenty of other bits of beauty.
The Almería Association is in charge of all of the albergues from Almería to Granada, and they are open all year. After Granada, there are few albergues, but I don’t think you’ll have any problem with accommodation.