Carnival

Carnival (Carnaval) is a festival held in the period before the beginning of Lent.  An opportunity to party and enjoy life before the time of self denial to come (well historically anyway).  Carnival was banned in Spain during the Franco era but is back with a vengeance.  The Santa Cruz carnival is claimed to be second only to Rio (though you might want to take that with a pinch of salt).  In Tenerife carnival lasts nearly three weeks and begins with the election of the Carnival Queens (Damas de Carnaval), which can be bloody if the 'right' girl doesn't win.  There is dancing in the streets every night in the last week and an obstacle race for drag queens who negotiate the cobbles of Puerto de la Cruz in outrageously high heels and sometimes obscene costumes.  The highlight of the festival is the grand parade when the Carnival Queens, drag queens and anyone else who wants to dress up as a furry animal or an eskimo, dance through the streets.

Carnival ends officially on Ash Wednesday, with the historically anti-clerical ceremony called the Entierro de la Sardina (the burial of the sardine). A large effigy of a sardine is carried through the streets on a bier to be ceremonially burnt on the beach to the accompaniment of fireworks (what isn't?).  The funeral procession is attended by groups of mourners in mock grief, many dressed up as priests or nuns who, if really lamenting anything, are grieving for the end of Carnival.