!!CARNIVAL!! 🥳🤹♀️🎉🎭🎡🎶🍾
February is Carnival month across Spain when cities come alive in an explosion of vibrant colours, unbridled fun, and breathtaking costumes.
It’s that time of year again folks. Think of Carnival and most likely Venice, Rio de Janeiro, and Tenerife come to mind. But in fact, many countries of Roman Catholic inclination celebrate this fun, exuberant and colourful festival. Feathers, sequins, headdresses, gravity-defying breasts, and drag queens aren’t commonly associated with the Catholic Church (except perhaps behind closed doors) but this pre-Lenten Catholic tradition was/is the last chance to let loose before the 14 days of abstinence and self-discipline preceding Easter.
Adults like a good dress-up as much as any kid, and many cities around Spain don the wigs, face paint, and fancy dress every February. However, there are a few places that stand out as exceptional carnivals worth witnessing at least once in your life.
Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Perhaps the most famous, second in the world only to Rio, takes place in the Canary Islands. The streets of the capital of Tenerife, Santa Cruz, throb and thrill to music, rides, and parades during the ‘official carnival’ and the ‘street carnival’. The official carnival features over a hundred musical groups and scheduled events, while the street carnival sweeps you up in its boisterous and spontaneous atmosphere of live music, fairground attractions, and food stalls.
The Cabalgata opening parade is where everyone gets to see the impressive and impossibly heavy costumes worn by the Carnival Queens as they glide along on floats. Dancers are dazzling in their choreographed groups, each one outdoing the next in creative and colourful costumes. There are Murgas – satire artists who perform songs with political and social inspiration, Rondallas – groups who sing and play stringed instruments, and Comparsas – groups of singers, dancers, and musicians. Then there are all those who have worked together to bring life to the festival, creating costumes, music, and choreography.
Each year since 1987, the Tenerife Carnival has followed a theme; in 2022 it was Science Fiction, in 2023, New York and this year, 2024, the theme is Television. The parade with its various floats decked out in themed regalia winds its way from the Parque de la Granja, along Las Ramblas, finishing up at the Plaza de Europa. Then it’s parties and free-for-all till dawn.
On Shrove Tuesday, the closing parade ‘Coso Apoteosis’ takes place along the palm tree-lined Anaga Avenue with views to the port of Santa Cruz and the rugged volcanic mountains. This parade marks the end of Carnival in Tenerife and is a sight to behold with its spectacular floats and inventive outfits.
The next day is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The end of Carnival is celebrated with the bizarre tradition of The Burial of the Sardine. This is a uniquely Spanish invention dating from 1851 which involves a giant papier-mâché sardine paraded as a funeral procession through the streets, accompanied by mourning widows and people dressed as popes, bishops, and nuns. The sardine is then thrown onto a bonfire as a symbolic ritual of destroying the old to bring in the new. Finally, a huge fireworks display marks the official end of the Carnival.
Cadiz
The Carnival of Cadiz, in the southern region of Andalusia, is recognised as one of the oldest on mainland Spain. The historic port city had trading links to Venice in the 16th century and is likely to have copied many of the city’s traditions, such as Carnival. Since then, the Cadiz Carnival has morphed into one of the most entertaining and humorous carnivals in the world.
The stunning coastal city with its mild sunny winters and friendly Gaditanos (Cadiz locals) is a popular tourist destination for Carnival aficionados. Though most of the satirical and traditional songs performed by the carnival groups may be lost on the non-Spaniard, it is visually spectacular and the joy is palpable.
Before the official days of the festival, there are gastronomic fiestas organised by the Carnival Clubs, such as the pestiñada, erizada, and ostianada. 12,000 sweet fried pastries are handed out free during the pestiñada, 400kg of sea urchins during the erizada, and 1,500kg of oysters during the ostianada. The fresh seafood and sherries of Andalusia are a good enough reason to head to Cadiz any time of the year, but with the clubs offering a wide range of local food and live traditional music in the weeks leading up to Carnival, it’s an opportunity to experience an authentic taste of Spain.
Everyone should feel obliged to wear some form of fancy dress, especially on the first Saturday of Carnival. Known as “tipos”, the costumes worn by the participants are true works of art. The processions take place on the first Sunday and last Sunday of the Carnival and tens of thousands of visitors come to watch the ornate floats and lavishly costumed groups of dancers and singers parade 3.5km for over 4 hours. The second parade, considered the “Humour Parade”, winds its way through the historic city centre with singers, musicians and satirists playing instruments and singing traditional songs and ditties based on current events and prominent figures.
The Gran Teatro Fallo theatre plays a central role before and during the carnival. More than 100 groups known as coros, comparsas, chiringotas, and cuartetos compete with songs of protest, satire, traditional songs, and hilarious parody, all dressed in appropriate costume. The popular event lasts for almost a month and is broadcast live on TV. These musical groups have become emblematic of the Cadiz Carnival and give it its unique quality.
Sitges
The beautiful coastal town of Sitges, 35km southwest of Barcelona, is known for being a gay-friendly destination which undoubtedly helps to bring a certain ebullience to its carnival. For seven days between Fat Thursday February 8th to Ash Wednesday February 14th 2024, Sitges hosts one of the wildest and most exciting carnivals in the Catholic world with 24/7 non-stop partying. Bars and nightclubs are popular places to go once the main activities have wound down.
As well as plenty of live music, there are fun events and activities such as the Debauchery Parade, the Extermination Parade, a Children’s Parade, and the hilarious Cursa de Lits - Annual Bed Race in which teams not only win by coming first, but for the funniest costumes and most creative bed. There are drag shows, cultural events, traditional dances, competitions, and of course, huge fireworks displays.
On the last day, The Burial of the Sardine also takes place in Sitges but instead of a bonfire, the sardine effigy is buried in the sand on the beach, signifying the beginning of Lent. Many finish the carnival with barbeques on the beach and plenty of food and more revelry before the long period of abstinence. Or for those who don’t adhere so strictly to the Catholic tradition, it’s simply a great ending to a fun fiesta.