Support acts for each of the concerts will be Canarian artists of the same musical style. UB40 are being supported by local reggae band, Ruts & La Isla Music from La Laguna.
There will be a total of seven concerts in 2016, with the final four in July, September, October and November, according to the Legends Live website where you can get more details, book tickets, etc. "The location of the shows, in the south of Tenerife, makes them especially attractive for visitors and foreign residents, who usually have no opportunity to enjoy Anglo-Saxon artists of this level." Well, at least not on the island.
Traditional Tenerife crafts: hand-made baskets from the El Palmar valley.
Locals (and no doubt many visitors too) often spend summers following the various romeria's and traditional fiestas around Tenerife; rally fans will follow those events around the island, etc. Craft Fairs - many of which are linked to local fiestas and are also annual events (especially the annual Los Reyes Craft Fair) - seem to be very popular, if the number of people visiting the posts about them is anything to go by. Clearly missed the one in Los Silos that was part of the Fiestas of San Antonio Abad in January (unless you went, of course), but here are the places and dates of all the craft fairs in Tenerife in 2016 (including Los Reyes Crafts Fair 2017), so you can follow these too!
WHERE
WHEN
Los Silos
17th January
Arafo
12th – 13th March
Icod de los Vinos
9th April
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
May*
Alcalá
30th May
Santa Úrsula
30th May
Granadilla de Abona
4th – 5th June
Arguayo (Santiago del Teide)
July*
Garachico
2nd – 3rd July
El Tanque
7th August
Vilaflor
August*
Buenavista del Norte
21st August
Pinolere
2nd – 4th September
Guía de Isora
11th September
Arico
17th September
Tacoronte
25th September
La Matanza
October*
Santa Úrsula
12th October
Adeje
14th – 15th October
La Victoria
November*
Santa Cruz (Xmas & Los Reyes)
2nd – 5th January 2017
* Dates to be confirmed. (We'll post details as or if we get them.)
Work being carried out on the scenery for Los Gigantes Carnival 2016
Owing to the bad weather last weekend, the events of Los Gigantes Carnival had to be postponed, but the town hall in Santiago del Teide have now announced that the carnival will take place on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th of March, with events following the same schedule as before. Therefore, the new programme will be as follows:
Friday, 4th March: Gala for the Election of the Carnival Queen from 9 pm in the Plaza Buganvilla, afterwards, dancing to the Orquesta The Boys Machine.
Saturday, 5th March: Kid's activities (bouncy castles, workshops and performances) from 11 am in the Plaza Buganvilla. Performance by local group, Tío Franklin, from 8:30 pm and dancing to the Orquestas Arguayo Band and Maracaibo from 11 pm.
Sunday, 6th March: from 11:30 am until 1:30 pm in the Plaza Bouganvilla, the first edition of CarnaCan - the dog's carnival! Yep, dress up your mutt! There will be a procession and prizes for finalists of the best costumes. The Gran Coso Apoteósico (Carnival Main Parade) takes place from 5 pm, with dancing to the Orquesta Maquinaria Band from 8:30 pm.
Monday, 7th March: Entierro de La Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) from 9 pm, with it's usual funeral procession, followed by the customary fireworks display and dancing to Arguayo Band.
Something for surf dudes and the kids this weekend with Volcom’s Totally Crustaceous Tour (TCT) at Punta Hidalgo on Tenerife's north east coast.
The TCT surf events are free to enter and have 5 divisions to choose from: Squids (10 and under), Groms (13 and under), Juniors (16 and under), men’s Pro-Am (20 and under), and Girls (20 and under), age is based off August 1st 2015.
On top of the good times, there will be free food, tons of prizes to win from VOLCOM, JAM TRACTION, ELECTRIC, MATTA SHAPES, BUBBLEGUM WAX and a cash prize for the Pro-Am winner and Junior winner at selected events. An Air division (all ages) will be run at some locations depending on the conditions. As the past season, European surfers will qualify and win tickets to compete to the 2016 Volcom TCT Global Championships at the world-class wave of Lower Trestles, California, in June 14-17, 2016 (prize purse and live webcast TBC).
Meanwhile, in Candelaria their carnival should reach it's climax this weekend with the Main Parade from 7:30pm this evening, Friday, 26th February. And on Sunday, 28th February, they have their Carnaval de Día starting at 11 am and Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) from 7 pm from the Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias.
Whilst in Buenavista del Norte on Saturday, 27th February they're holding their first Carrera Nocturna Parkinson Tenerife (Nocturnal Race in aid of Parkinson's Disease), starting from the Plaza de los Remedios. Inscription has already ended, but I'm sure both the worthy cause and the runners themselves would be grateful for any support.
Granadilla de Abona's Pirate-themed carnival main parade is on Saturday, 27th February, from 5 pm, with the parade in El Médano on Sunday, 28th February, also from 5 pm.
All events subject to change and to the whims of the weather. Various carnival events have already been postponed to next weekend. More details if we get them.
El Rosario is a municipality in the north eastern part of the island of Tenerife in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife province, on the Canary Islands, Spain. The seat of the municipality is the town La Esperanza, in the mountainous interior of the island.
Fiesta in honour of San Amaro, Santa Lucía y San Sebastián: On the Sunday after 15th January in Machado.
Fiesta in honour of San Isidro Labrador and Santa María de la Cabeza: in El Chorillo on the Sunday nearest to 15th May. (This fiesta dates back to 1916, so celebrated it's centenary in 2016.)
Fiesta de San Juan: with the traditional bonfires on the night of 23rd June in Tabaiba and on the Playa de La Nea.
Exaltación de la Santa Cruz and romería del Santo Hermano Pedro: inLlano del Moro on the 1st Sunday of July.
With the big snows of the last week, there were reports of the Guardia Civil skiing in the Teide National Park and here is the proof. It was their Equipo de Rescate en Intervención en Montaña (EREIM) (Mountain Rescue and Intervention Team) having fun making their rounds to evaluate the situation last Friday. Definately think they've done this before.
Rallies in Tenerife may not be strictly traditional, but they've certainly become an important tradition and Tenerife definitely does them differently than anywhere else. One of these days, no doubt, they'll spoil it by invoking the safety elf, but for now, they offer a wonderful opportunity to watch some thrilling, live motor-sport, free of charge, right by the side of the road, completely unhindered by barriers or anything silly like that. As previously reported, the dates for the 26th Adeje Rally, on the 18th, 19th & 20th March, are confirmed, but here is the rest of the (currently draft) rally programme for 2016:
[1] The El Tanque Hillclimb, which was to have started the season on March 5th, has already been rescheduled for April 2nd, according to this report, which also suggests that [2] the La Guancha Hillclimb could be postponed to November and that there are likely to be route changes to the Orvecame Norte Rally taking place in May.
With the big carnivals in 2016 in the north now over, some of the smaller ones happening this coming weekend and only Los Cristianos International Carnival still to come in March, here are the predicted dates of the main events of carnivals in Tenerife in 2017.
Santa Cruz
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 - Election of the Carnaval Queen
Friday, February 24th, 2017 - Carnaval Opening Parade
Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 - Main Parade
Wednesday, March 1st, 2017 - Burial of the Sardine
Saturday, March 4th, 2017 - Daytime Carnaval
Sunday, March 5th, 2017 - Parade of Vintage Cars
Puerto de la Cruz
Thursday, February 23rd, 2017 - Election of the Carnival Queen
Saturday, February 25th, 2017 - Proclamatory Parade
Wednesday, March 1st, 2017 - Burial of the Sardine
Friday, March 3rd, 2017 - Men´s Marathon in High Heels
Saturday, March 4th, 2017 - Main Parade
Los Gigantes
We calculate that the 4 main days of the Los Gigantes Carnaval 2017 should run from Friday, 10th March 2017 to Monday, 13th March 2017, thus:
Friday, March 10th, 2017: Election of the Queen, Infant and/or Adult.
Saturday, March 11th, 2017: Kid’s activities
Sunday, March 12th, 2017: Main parade from 5pm.
Monday, March 13th, 2017: Burial of the Sardine from 9pm.
Dates of Los Gigantes Carnival 2017 are as follows (info from Tourist Office) (Via)
This year it will be held over 2 weekends
1st weekend
Fri March 10th - Election of the Queen
Sat March 11th - Childrens events
Sunday March 12th - Grand Parade
2nd weekend
Fri March 17th - Sardine parade/Fireworks
Sat March 18th - Family events
(Really just the Burial of the Sardine transferring from the Monday night to the Friday, which makes a lot of sense really, with some more family events thrown in.)
Güímar
Friday, March 10th, 2017 - Las Burras de Güímar
Carnaval being pretty sacrosanct, it’s fairly unlikely that this pattern will ever be significantly changed (weather excepting), but I do have to add that any changes will be outside of my control. Thus, use this information as a guide, but where it is crucial (affects flight bookings, etc.), it is your own responsibility to double check nearer the time.
Los Cristianos (Arona)
As we said last year, there's absolutely no way of predicting (save crystal ball maybe) the dates of Los Cristianos carnival. We are very lucky that we had some notice this year and even a full programme of this year's events, but that's by no means guaranteed in future. All I can say is that when I know, I will post the dates and details here.
UPDATE: Los Cristianos carnival will be held between 17 and 27 March 2017.
If you wish to be informed when information about Los Cristianos Carnival 2017 becomes available, may I suggest that you subscribe to our email updates, or our news feed, follow our Facebook page, or our Twitter tweets, or all of them, or whichever is your preference, as whatever I post here will also be posted to all of those social media.
Virgen de Candelaria: 2nd February (Public Holiday). Feast of Our Lady of Candelaria. In 1497, Alonso Fernández de Lugo first celebrated the Feast of Las Candelas (Candlemas), coinciding with the Purification of the Virgin. The night of the 1st to the 2nd February is celebrated with the "Procession of the Candles" during which the lights are extinguished in the town. During the procession, the faithful pray the Rosary carrying lighted candles, which symbolize Jesus as the light of all people.
San Blas: 3rd February
Carnaval: Around the time of Shrove Tuesday each year.
Virgen del Carmen: 16th July
Santa Ana: 26th July
Virgen de la Candelaria: 14th and 15th August (the latter is a Public Holiday). Celebration in honor of the patron of the Canary Islands. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the archipelago come to the village to celebrate the feast of the patron in the Pligrimage to Candelaria as well as the Ceremony of the discovery of the Virgin of Candelaria.
For Los Cristianos (Arona) Carnaval 2016, between the 4th and the 14th March, Los Cristianos will be converted into La Vieja Habana (Old Havana) for a Cuban-style carnival.
Here's the full programme of events:
Friday, 4th March at 9 pm, presentation of the candidates for Carnival Queen and Junior Queen at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center.
Saturday, 5th March at midday, inauguration of the exhibition "Un Sueño de Carnaval, Homenaje a Víctor Gámez" (A Carnival Dream, Homage to Víctor Gámez) at the Cultural Centre in Los Cristianos. - At 7 pm Cabalgata Anunciadora del Carnaval (Carnival Opening Parade) in Playa de Las Américas from the Commercial Centre Gala en la Avda. Rafael Puig Lluvina through to the Commercial Centre Oasis en la Avda. Las Américas. - From 10 pm Wig Party (Fiesta del Pelucón) in the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center.
Sunday, 6th March at midday Carnival Concert with the Banda de Música de Arona in the Plaza de la Pescadora, Los Cristianos. - At 5 pm Parade with all the musical groups of the carnival, from the Plaza del Pescador (Cultural Centre) to the Playa de Los Cristianos beach. - At 6 pm Meeting of the Murgas of Tenerife in the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center.
Tuesday, 8th March at 7 pm Festival of dance groups in the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center.
Wednesday, 9th March at 6:30 pm Dance for the elderly in the patio of the Cultural Centre. - At 8 pm Gala for the selection of the Junior Carnival Queen at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center.
Thursday, 10th March at 9 pm Grand Gala for the selection of the Carnival Queen at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center.
Friday, 11th March at 9 pm Drag Queen Gala after which there will be dancing to the Orquesta Deliciosa at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center. - From midnight Zona DJ with local DJs in the Plaza de Pescador (outside the Cultural Centre).
Saturday, 12th March from midday Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnival) with 40 Principales with national and international artists at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center and with various activities and workshops occurring simultaneously at the Plaza de la Pescadora. - At 5 pm Carnival Costumes Contest at the Plaza de la Pescadora. - At 8 pm Dancing with the orchestras Armonía Show y Tropin at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center. - At 10 pm Carnival procession along the beach from the Avenida de Suecia to the Plaza del Pescador (Cultural Centre). - From midnight Zona DJ with local DJs in the Plaza de Pescador (outside the Cultural Centre).
Sunday, 13th March from 11 am to 2 pm Exhibition of Vintage and Classic Cars (event to be confirmed) in the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center. - At 11:30 am Contest of Pets' Costumes at the Carnival Enclosure in front of the Valdés Center or the Plaza de la Pescadora. - 4 pm Gran Coso Apoteósico del Carnaval (Carnival Main Parade) from the Paloma Beach apartments in the Avda. Juan Carlos I to the Centro Cultural de Los Cristianos, at the end of which will be dancing to the orchestras Combo Dominicano and Pasion Gomera in the exterior of the Cultural Center.
Monday, 14th March at 8:30 pm Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) with the procession from the Plaza del Pescador (Cultural Centre), to the Playa de Los Cristianos beach at the end of which will be the end of carnival party with local DJs in the Plaza de Pescador (outside the Cultural Centre).
Oh and there's even an official carnival song for Los Cristianos Carnival, Carnaval en la Bahía by Sira Mayo & David González, which you can download from Soundcloud.
Both of the biggest of Tenerife's carnivals reach their climax this weekend.
In Puerto de la Cruz, the Coso Apoteosico (Main Parade) takes place on Saturday, February 13th, from 4 pm. The parade route takes in Colón, Plaza de los Reyes Católicos, Obispo Pérez Cáceres, Familia
Betancourt y Molina, Zamora, Santo Domingo, La Marina, Plaza del
Charco, San Felipe and José Campo Llarena.
Carnaval de Día de Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2016
Meanwhile, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on Saturday, February 13th, from 1 pm to 6:30 pm, is the second of the Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnival) events. Radio Club Tenerife and M80 Radio will be hosting events in the Plaza de La Candelaria and 40 Principales in the Avenida Anaga, with a massive line up of acts, artists, orchestras and DJs.
Both towns will be holding their end of carnival parties on Sunday, 14th February, with the addition, in Santa Cruz, of the Classic and Vintage Car Exhibitions.
This Sunday, 14th February, from 9 am to 4 pm in the plaza in Santiago del Teide, the I Feria de Productos de Tenerife (First Tenerife Products Fair) will be taking place, having been organised around the campain for the almond blossoms. Items on sale will include local wines, cheeses, honey, artisan bread and the most representative of the islands cakes.
Also, the nearby Hotel La Casona del Patio are holding a Día de la Trilla (Threshing Day), also on Sunday, from 11 am.
You're literally spoilt for choice on Friday, February 12th, with three very diverse, but equally fun carnival events to choose from in Santa Cruz, Güímar and in Puerto de la Cruz. If you could get to them all, then I think it would be well worth the effort.
Kid's Parade Santa Cruz de Tenerife
First up is the Coso Infantil (Kid's Parade) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This starts off from the Parque García Sanabria at 6 pm, parading around the streets of Pilar, Villalba Hervás and La Marina, notionally for a couple of hours. This parade is for all the smallest and youngest participants, their murgas, dance troupes, etc. And, of course, it will include the junior carnival queen, Tania Martín, and her court, who were chosen at theGala Reina Infantil Carnaval S/C Tenerife 2016 (Junior Carnival Queen Gala) on January 24th.
Last year the participants asked for the suspension of the parade, which always used to take place on the Saturday, so they could enjoy the events of the Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnival) with their families. Hence, this has been moved to Friday.
Las Burras de Güímar
There seem to have been some difficulties between volunteer groups and the town hall of Güímar over the organisation of this year's event (it couldn't possibly be political, could it?), so I only hope it will be taking place as usual. In this piece of unique carnaval street theatre, Las Burras de Güímar (The Donkeys of Güímar), witches turn into donkeys and back again, until the Inquisition turns up and barbeques them along with a sardine. Hopefully taking place in the Plaza de San Pedro in Güímar, starting at 9 p.m.
Mascarita ponte tacón in Puerto de la Cruz
The night's finale must be the Mascarita ponte tacón - Men's High Heels Marathon - in Puerto de la Cruz. A couple of hundred fools in unconvincing drag will attempt to get their leg over obstacles in high heels that must not measure less than 15 cm. Registration takes place in the Plaza del Charco from around 7:30 pm, but that could take hours, with the obstacle race to follow and music and dancing (for those who haven't sprained ankles) after that. Here are some images from last year's XXI Mascarita ponte tacón.
Headquarters in Santa Cruz of the Murga Group Los Diablos Locos
One aspect of carnival that I tend not to cover here in much detail are the murga groups. For two reasons; their "music" (using the term advisedly) played on party horns or kazoos tends to be a tad irritating after the second bar and, as the lyrics are highly political (not to mention politically incorrect) and satirical, they're up the harder end of Spanish to understand. So, unless you live on the island and really immerse yourself in the culture, you probably won't appreciate them beyond their clown-like appearance.
The first murga appeared in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1917, giving life, the following year, to these satirical groups of the carnival. Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá (Tenerife) is the oldest, and is considered the mother of the Canarian murgas. See: Murga en Canarias
However, they are one of the most popular elements of the carnivals and contests where prizes are awarded to the most outstanding costumes, lyrics and interpretation. If you're really, really interested and happen to have six hours to spare, here's a recording of this year's final of the adult murgas in Santa Cruz. Yes, six whole hours. That popular!
Nuestra Señora de la Concepción: First weekend in October in Masca
Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios: 25th October
Agriculture is the reason behind many of the popular celebrations in Buenavista, among them the Día de la Siembra de la Papa (Day of potato planting) in Las Portelas, which is repeated every summer to coincide with the festival of Ntra. Sra. Del Carmen. Local residents and onlookers gather to enjoy a day of sowing and the subsequent lunch.
The wheat harvest, staggered over the summer, begins in July. The subsequent threshing forms the origins of one of the most complete rural celebrations in the area: the Día de la Trilla (Threshing Day), this time in the neighborhood of El Palmar. The events on the last Sunday in September combine the making of a carbonera (an ancestral procedure for obtaining charcoal by slow burning firewood) with traditional threshing, where the skillful use of beasts enable the separation of the wheat from the straw. These are followed by lunch and an afternoon of music and dancing.
Ash Wednesday in Santa Cruz and in Puerto de la Cruz, you can join in with the ceremonies of the Burial of the Sardine (even though it's cremated), where wailing widows (who are mostly men) mourn the end of carnival (even though it still carries on for days).
In Santa Cruz, the the funeral procession leaves from the Calle Juan Pablo II at around 9 pm, taking a route through Méndez Núñez, Pilar, Villalba Hervás, La Marina and ending up in the Plaza de España, with the burning of the sardine in the Avenida Marítima.
On Martes de Carnaval (Carnival Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday) you'll probably know better as Shrove Tuesday - which this year falls on Tuesday, February 9th - carnival's main parade, known as the Coso Apoteosis takes place along the Avenidas de Francisco La Roche and Marítima on the seafront in Santa Cruz, starting at around 4 pm and rolls on into dancing to the biggest orchestras in the Plaza de la Candelaria from 8 pm.
Last year 7,500 seats were provided along the length of the route, available for those who wish to use them, at a nominal charge of €2.50 each. (Well, if you're early enough, as the carnival parade draws tens of thousands of spectators.) There is also an area provided for those with reduced mobility located at the Alameda del Duque de Santa Elena, by the Plaza de España. No doubt there will be similar arrangements in place this year.
Here's an interesting video showing all the carnival posters from the last 54 years. The earlier ones, while carnival was still prohibited under the dictatorshios, you will see refer to the Fiestas de Invierno (Winter Festivities/Winter Holiday). Read more in the History of the carnival. The first time it was called carnaval again was in 1977.
The biggest event of Carnival Monday in the Canary Islands - this year on Monday, February 8th - takes place on the neighbouring island of La Palma with the Los Indianos parade, in Santa Cruz de La Palma. Cuban rhythms, dressing in white and tons (literally) of talcum powder are the order of the day, as you'll see in this video of the television coverage of the event last year: Los Indianos 2015.
And if you want to know why and what this is all about, read Los Indianos.
As we've already mentioned, this Sunday, February 7th, sees the first of this year's Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnival) events in Santa Cruz. All the fun elements of carnival, but at a time of day (from 1 pm to 6:30 pm) when it can be enjoyed by all the family.
It's all about celebrating the biggest event of the year in Tenerife this weekend - Carnival in Santa Cruz - with various performances taking place all over the city - in the Plazas del Príncipe and La Candelaria, Parque García Sanabria and Avenida Francisco La Roche - from 5:30 pm on Saturday, February 6th. Later, from 9pm on Saturday night, is the Concurso de Comparsas Ritmo y Armonía (Rhythm and Harmony Comparsas) a gathering and procession of all of the comparsa groups - a comparsa is a group of singers, musicians and dancers that take part in carnivals and other festivities in Spain and Latin America - along the Avenida Francisco La Roche. This is being televised from 10 pm.
Here's a video from last year Ritmo y Armonía S/C Tenerife 2015, from which you'll see that the parade also includes the carnival queen and her court, so it'll be a great Saturday night out and opportunity to see all the most colourful elements of carnival.
Of course, there will also be loads of street food and the fun fair, as well as music and dancing in the streets and squares, with the biggest orchestras in the Plazas del Príncipe and La Candelaria and the Avenida Francisco La Roche.
On Sunday, February 7th, is the first of the days of Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnival,or Carnival Alldayer, perhaps) with all sorts of activities and music going on, again in the main streets and squares in the city, from 1 pm until 6:30 pm.
And while we're on celebrations, I thought I'd mention that today is Secret Tenerife's blogiversary our first post having been 12 years ago today, on February 5th, 2004. Coincidentally, although probably not surprisingly, the second item we covered was when the then Carnaval Takes To The Streets ...
Now that the carnival queen has been chosen, tomorrow night, Friday, February 5th, carnival takes to the streets with the Cabalgata Anunciadora (Opening Parade). The procession starts from 8pm from the Plaza de la República Dominicana and passes through the Avenida de la Asunción, Ramón y Cajal, Galcerán, Plaza de Weyler, Méndez Núñez, Pilar, Villalba Hervás, La Marina and ends on the Avenida Francisco La Roche.
Cecilia Navarro Arteaga Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2016
Cecilia Navarro Arteaga was chosen as Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2016. Her costume entitled, "Arena blanca del desierto" (White Desert Sand) was designed by Daniel Pages and representing McDonald´s & La Opinión de Tenerife.
Tonight sees the big gala for the selection of this year's carnaval queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which will be the finale of the contests to choose the running order of participants of carnival, however, tonight's winner isn't the only queen elected at each year's carnival as there are the junior and senior carnival queens chosen too. Here is a recording of the gala that selected this year's senior carnival queen, which took place last Wednesday, January 27th, also at the International Fairs and Congress Centre.
This also gives you a preview of this year's staging and scenery for the 1980's theme.
On the final Sunday of Carnaval in Santa Cruz - known as Domingo de Piñata - which this year falls on Sunday, February 14th, there's the annual exhibition of Automóviles Antiguos (Vintage Cars), which gather in and around the Parque García Sanabria and then parade around the city from mid-day, travelling around the Rambla de las Tinajas, Ramón y Cajal, Plaza Pedro Schwartz, Calles Méndez Núñez, Pilar, Villalba Hervás and La Marina, ending up on the Avenida Francisco La Roche.
Meanwhile, from 10 am until 1 pm on the same day, there will be an Exposición de Coches Clásicos (Exhibition of Classic Cars), back for its second year, organised by the Amigos del BMW E21 Tenerife (Friends of the BMW E21 in Tenerife), in the Avenida Marítima.
Betancourt was a prominent Spanish engineer, considered to be "the father of modern engineering" in both Spain and Russia, with work that ranged from steam engines and balloons to structural engineering and urban planning. Betancourt founded and managed the Spanish Corps of Engineers and the Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers. As an urban planner and construction manager, he supervised planning and construction in Saint Petersburg, Kronstadt, Nizhny Novgorod and other Russian cities and was involved in significant projects, including the Moscow Manege and The Saviour Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod. He reached the rank of General in the Russian army of Tsar Alexander I and was the first director of the Madrid School of Civil Engineering. He also visited England where he met Scottish steam engine pioneer, James Watt.
Holidays for Modern Engineers
You can actually stay on the very spot where Agustín de Betancourt was born, because the Hotel Monopol, which the bust is opposite, is built on the site of his birthplace.
The only municipal public holiday falling in February this year is on Tuesday, February 9th for Martes de Carnaval (Carnival Tuesday), which you'll probably know as Shrove Tuesday. This is a public holiday in the following districts of the island; Arafo, Arona, Arico, Candelaria, El Rosario, El Sauzal, Fasnia, Granadilla de Abona, Icod de los Vinos, La Matanza de Acentejo, La Orotava, La Victoria de Acentejo, San Cristobal de La Laguna, San Miguel de Abona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santa Ursula and Tacoronte.
Smaller carnivals including those in Granadilla, La Orotava, Los Realejos and Icod de los Vinos, also take place in Februrary.
Carnaval in La Orotava runs from 6th - 13th February, with it's main parade from 5 pm on Tuesday, 9th February.
In the San Agustín district of Los Realejos, where this year's carnival theme is Toys, events began on January 24th and will run through to February 11th. There, the main parade takes place from 5 pm on Sunday, February 7th.
In Icod de los Vinos, their carnival, inspired by Eurovision, is from January 31st to February 13th, with the main parade on Sunday, 7th February, from 5:30 pm.
Granadilla de Abona's Pirate-themed carnival is taking place from 19th to the 28th February. The main parade is on Saturday, 27th February, from 5 pm, with the parade in El Médano on Sunday, 28th February, also from 5 pm.
