Something for the weekend: Isle of Tenerife Rally

The island's biggest event of the year on the rally calendar is the Isle of Tenerife Rally, which takes place this weekend on Saturday 17 November. Albeit in Spanish, should you wish to watch the sport, or avoid the closed roads, you can download timetables & routes at the following page: Rallye Isla Tenerife 2018, Rutómetro, Tramos y Programa Horario.

Rally Isla Tenerife 2017

Countdown to Carnival: Ritmo y Armonía Comparsa - Los Joroperos

The comparsas give you the spirit of carnival and while the galas, the opening parade and the main parade are all well known events, one you may have missed out on is the Ritmo y Armonía (Rhythm and Harmony) Comparsas Contest that takes place on the Saturday night of carnival that next year will take place on Saturday, 2 March 2019.

Here is just one of the comparsas from carnival earlier this year.

Most Santa Cruz carnival events are televised via RTVE or RTVC, locally, nationally and internationally or recordings may be found on the CarnavalTVC Youtube channel.

All events are liable to change beyond our control.

Los Joroperos | Ritmo y Armonía | SC de Tenerife 2018

Scenery design for Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2019

Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2019 has the theme of "The Deep Sea" and here is a first look at the scenery, designed by Javier Caraballero, for the many contests and galas to be held at the International Fairs and Conference Centre next year.

El escenario de Carnaval, una pecera de color

Santa Cruz renews agreements with TVE and RTVC to televise carnival

Retro Tele

The agreements guarantee the maximum local, national and international diffusion of the fiestas and gives continuity to the collaboration with both television channels.

The Mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, yesterday signed two agreements for the television coverage of the upcoming carnival 2019, with administrator of RTVC, José Carlos Naranjo, and the director of RTVE in the Canary Islands, Domingo Álvarez. The agreements include the live broadcast of the Gala for the Election of the Carnival Queen, scheduled for February 27, for all of Spain, through La 2 and the International Channel, with a potential audience of 400 million viewers, as well as via the websites of RTVE and RTVC.

Meanwhile Radiotelevisión Canaria guarantees the local diffusion of this central act of the carnival, as well as the emission of the main events of the program of celebrations.

After the success of the last edition, RTVE will once again broadcast nationally, via La 2, the Rhythm and Harmony Comparsas competition, scheduled for March 2, on Avenida de Anaga. The TVE retransmissions will be made in HD quality.

Television Audience Figures for Carnival 2018

The accumulated audience figures for the television broadcasts by Televisión Canaria and Televisión Española (in La 2 and the Canal Internacional), especially the Gala for the Election of the Carnival Queen 2018 and of the Rhythm and Harmony contest, was estimated at 4.5 million viewers.

According to data from the channels themselves, the Gala obtained an average of 969,000 spectators, an increase of 275,000 with respect to the 2017 Gala. Specifically, data from Televisión Española certified that 4,171,000 viewers saw the Gala at some point, which is 240,000 more than in 2017. The average stood at 798,000, with an audience share of 5.5 percent, 244,000 thousand more than average in 2017 and 1.2 points more than share. For Televisión Canaria, the Gala was the most watched of the last four years and the most watched broadcast of the day in the Canary Islands. The show got a 23.6 percent audience share and an average of 171,000 spectators on the regional channel.

The national retransmission of the Rhythm and Harmony Comparsas 2018 was followed at some point by 3 million viewers throughout Spain, according to the data provided by the public broadcaster, which confirmed the potential appeal of this aspect of the festivities, retransmitted for the first time beyond the islands. The average of spectators stood at 622,000 people, adding the data of TVE and TVC, with an audience share of 3.2 percent.

Santa Cruz renueva con TVE y RTVC el acuerdo para retransmitir el Carnaval

Countdown to Carnival: Candidate for Carnival Queen in 2018, Minerva

Minerva Hernández Hernández | Gala de elección de la Reina | SC de Tenerife 2018

As we count down to carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2019, let's take a last look at one of the candidates for carnival queen in 2018 and her magnificent costume.

The gala to elect the Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2019 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 27 February 2019. The inauguration takes place on 1 February 2019 and carnival takes to the streets on 1 March 2019.

All dates are liable to change beyond our control. 

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Eighteen candidates confirmed for Carnival Queen in 2019

Maid of Honour 2016

Even though inscription hasn't yet opened for participants in next year's carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, carnival is, in the words of this report, "living an epoch of economic bonanza" with 18 candidates already confirmed to compete in the gala for the selection of the adult carnival queen, a number which may well increase between now and February.

The same report however, after a meeting that took place last Monday, says that the plans announced three months ago about changes to the format of next year's gala, have been thrown out. There will not now be ten finalists selected nor a second parade.

Photo CARLOS TEIXIDOR CADENAS

Tenerife Municipal Holidays 2019

Municipalities and areas of Tenerife

As mentioned in the post regarding Tenerife's Public Holidays for 2019, in addition to the national, regional and island-specific holidays, each of the 31 municipalities adds its own further 2 local days when town halls and businesses in that location will be closed and often the local main fiestas there are celebrated. These are as follows for next year:

ADEJE.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
14 October: Festival of Santa Úrsula.

ARAFO.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
26 August: Festival of San Bernardo.

ARICO.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
24 June: Festival of San Juan Bautista.

ARONA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
7 October: Festival of Santísimo Cristo de la Salud.

BUENAVISTA DEL NORTE.
24 August: Festival of San Bartolomé.
25 October: Festival of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios.

CANDELARIA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
26 July: Festival of Santa Ana.

EL ROSARIO.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
5 August: Festival of Nuestra Señora de La Esperanza.

EL SAUZAL.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
3 May: Festival of Día de la Cruz.

EL TANQUE.
31 August: Festividad Nuestra Señora de Buen Viaje.
21 October: Festival of Santísimo Cristo del Calvario.

FASNIA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
19 August: Fiestas Patronales.

GARACHICO.
26 July: Festival of Santa Ana.
16 August: Festival of San Roque.

GRANADILLA DE ABONA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
13 June: Festival of San Antonio de Padua.

GUÍA DE ISORA.
24 June: Festival of San Juan Bautista.
16 September: Festival of Santísimo Cristo de la Dulce Muerte.

GÜÍMAR.
29 June: Festival of San Pedro Apóstol.
7 September: Festival of la Bajada de Nuestra Señora del Socorro.

ICOD DE LOS VINOS.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
25 April: Festival of San Marcos Evangelista, Patrono de la Ciudad.

LA GUANCHA.
18 January: Festival of Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza.
19 August: Lunes de las Fiestas Patronales.

LA MATANZA DE ACENTEJO.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
6 August: Festival of El Salvador.

LA OROTAVA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
27 June: Infraoctava del Corpus Christi.

LA VICTORIA DE ACENTEJO.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
2 September: Fiestas Patronales del Municipio.

LOS REALEJOS.
22 January: Festival of San Vicente.
3 May: Exaltación de la Santa Cruz.

LOS SILOS.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
24 June: Festival of San Juan Bautista.

PUERTO DE LA CRUZ.
3 May: Festival of the Holy Cross.
9 July: Festival of la Virgen del Carmen.

SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LA LAGUNA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
14 September: Festival of Santísimo Cristo de La Laguna.

SAN JUAN DE LA RAMBLA.
24 June: Festival of San Juan Bautista.
9 September: Festival of San José.

SAN MIGUEL DE ABONA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
30 September: Festival of San Miguel Arcángel.

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
3 May: Festival of Santa Cruz (Fiesta fundacional).

SANTA ÚRSULA.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
21 October: Festival of Santa Úrsula.

SANTIAGO DEL TEIDE.
25 July: Festival of Santiago Apóstol.
26 July: Festival of Nuestra Señora de Santa Ana.

TACORONTE.
5 March: Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday.
25 November: Festival of Santa Catalina.

TEGUESTE.
25 April: Festival of San Marcos Evangelista.
9 September: Festival of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.

VILAFLOR DE CHASNA.
29 April: Festival of Santo Hermano Pedro.
26 August: Festival of San Agustín y San Roque.

Fiestas locales propias de cada municipio de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias para el año 2019.

Something for the weekend: La Guancha Hillclimb

This weekend, on Saturday 3 November, is the turn of the Icod - La Guancha Hillclimb.

Subida La Guancha 2017

Tenerife Fiestas in November 2018

Typical scene at cemetaries on All Saints Day, November 1

The month starts with a National Public Holiday on the 1st November for Todos los Santos (All Saints Day). It is a very important holiday when people from all over the country return to their town or village to lay flowers on the graves of deceased relatives. There are few religious days that mean quite so much to the people of Spain and the Canary Islands as this solemn festival. More flowers are sold for All Saints Day than there are for Valentines Day, if that gives you an idea of the importance. 

The only Municipal Public Holiday in Tenerife in November 2018 is on the 26 November: the Festivity of Santa Catalina in Tacoronte.

November 17 this year the Isle of Tenerife Rally takes place.

The biggest celebrations in November are for San Andrés on 29 November - the Eve of Saint Andrew's Day - most notably in Icod de los Vinos with the Tablas de San Andrés (see video) or read the explanation in Riding the Boards for San Andrés in Icod de Los Vinos, while Puerto de la Cruz has it's Fiesta del Cacharro y la Castaña - basially Scrap Metal and Chestnut Festival, which is all made clear in Chestnuts, Wine and Sleds for San Andrés.

Photo by carlosdu [CC BY 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

Countdown to Carnival: Ritmo y Armonía Comparsa - Río Orinoco

The comparsas give you the spirit of carnival and while the galas, the opening parade and the main parade are all well known events, one you may have missed out on is the Ritmo y Armonía (Rhythm and Harmony) Comparsas Contest that takes place on the Saturday night of carnival that next year will take place on Saturday, 2 March 2019.

Here is just one of the comparsas from carnival earlier this year.

Most Santa Cruz carnival events are televised via RTVE or RTVC, locally, nationally and internationally or recordings may be found on the CarnavalTVC Youtube channel.

All events are liable to change beyond our control.

Río Orinoco | Ritmo y Armonía | SC de Tenerife 2018