Which is the best Tenerife carnival parade?

The five main Carnival Parades in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2020

With several carnival parades to choose from, if you could only go to one, which one should you choose? Which one is best? Hopefully, this will help. 

Cabalgata anunciadora - Opening Parade

There is a special sort of excitement surrounding the first parade in the streets each year on the Friday before Shrove Tuesday. And it takes place in the evening, which imparts a different atmosphere than daytime parades, although it starts early enough for kids to see the start of it at least. At the end of the parade are the many decorated vehicles - busses and trucks made into truly mobile discos - and it goes on for around four hours or so and rolls right into the first night of the orchestras and other entertainments that go on until dawn. The fun fair should be operating and there will be plenty of street food, so you can get a flavour of everything. The only downside to choosing the Opening Parade as the only one to go to, would be then wanting to stay for all the rest once you're hooked!

Ritmo y Armonía - Rhythm & Harmony

Part show, part parade and part contest, the Rhythm & Harmony Comparsas Contest usually takes place on the first Saturday night of carnival week. The comparsa dance troupes display their talents and the adult carnival queen and her court of around four maids of honour take part in this event, but not the other candidates, nor the junior and senior queens. Perfectly good if you want lively, a bit shorter than the other parades and just a flavour of carnival and a Saturday Night Out. It is also one of the events for which you can normally get tickets for the stands if you want somewhere to sit relatively comfortably to watch.

Coso Apoteosis - Carnival Main Parade

Obviously, as the main parade of carnival, on Shrove Tuesday, this has the participation of everyone and his dog (often literally). Beginning quite promptly at around 4pm (the need to keep to TV schedules these days) and going on for around four hours, is early enough for a leisurely dinner before going out in the evening, or in time for almost everyone's bedtime. Always headed up by the murga group, Afilarmónica Nifú Nifá, the parade follows an established order of winning comparsas, the carnival queen, then down the list of murgas, comparsas, maids of honour, junior carnival queen and her court, senior queen then her court, other groups, personalities, decorated floats, some of the non-winning carnival candidates may parade too, et al. There are probably around 100 carnival groups of various type in total, so it is thousands of people. You will see everyone in this parade. You can also get seats in the stands to make it a bit more comfortable, although it can get a bit warm if the weather is good: it could be worse if it rained, I guess. Because it is the main event, it would be easy to choose this as the one that simply cannot be missed and maybe it is.

Entierro de la Sardina - Burial of the Sardine

Blasphemous and pornographic, this is the ideal family night out! No, seriously, despite appearances, it is a safe and friendly night and what else did you have to do on Ash Wednesday anyway? It's beyond surreal. It is weirder than anything you could ever imagine, even on drugs. The whole concept of holding a funeral for an effigy of a fish and parading it through the city, with half the congregation dressed up as dildo-waving clergy as a piss-take and mourning it in very sexualised drag befitting street-walkers is, well, alien to us. But if you're looking for something you definitely won't see anywhere else, this could be the one.

Coso Infantil - Children's Carnaval Parade

If you just want to dip your toe into carnival waters and are not quite ready for the big parades or hedonistic all-nighters, or you have kids yourself, then this is the parade for you. See the junior carnival queen and her court, as well as a plethora of small people in the cutest costumes. The Children's Carnival Parade opens the final weekend of carnival too with plenty of daytime events to follow.

Obviously, there's no 'best', it depends on who you are and what you like.

Afilarmónica Ni Fú-Ni Fá the grandfathers of carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The Afilarmónica Nifú Nifá at the head of the Carnival Parade on Tuesday 5 March 2019

The Afilarmónica Nifú Nifá (fondly known as La Fufa) is a carnival institution. Whilst the order of queens and the various groups in the parades is determined by their placing in the various contests in the run up to carnival in the street, La Fufa always head up the parades, owing to their position of seniority.

History of the Afilarmónica Nifú Nifá

In 1917 a chirigota from Cádiz participated in the carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the first time. They were sailors from the gunboat “Laya” of the Spanish Navy and that planted the seed, so that in the decade of the nineteen-twenties the first murga was born in Santa Cruz, named "El Flaco". It disappeared in 1936, when the Civil War broke out.

After the Civil War and as the carnival was celebrated with some tolerance by local authorities, in 1951 a group of friends formed a “murga” (among them the founder and director of the Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá, Enrique González Betancourt (1924-2010) - who was known as 'the father of the murgas'), which at that time had no name; they made the musical instruments themselves with items such as a sardine barrel and iron plates, the rest of the instruments (trumpets, saxophones, ...) were made of cardboard.

A few months before the 1954 carnival, the group met to organize better; chosing a name for their murga, they decided to name it an "Afilarmónica". They wore a "circus musicians" costume with huge false mustaches, so they decided that the full name would be "Afilarmónica los Mustatos". However, when everything was ready, an order from the Civil Governor of the province, Arias Navarro, prohibited the celebration of carnivals.

Nevertheless, they performed after the dates of the carnival in the capital of Tenerife (at an artistic festival, a parade of the festivities of a neighborhood of Santa Cruz, and a party in honor of General Rodrigo, in the Círculo de Amistad XII de Enero (Circle of Friendship XII of January), where they were recriminated by the then Civil Governor).

Although the number of members reduced, the group continued rehearsing every year, but without performing in public when the dates of the carnival arrived, until in 1961, when they returned to meet the streets, already with their current name.

Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá

In 1961, when they were about to go out on the street, a man appeared in the rehearsal room. When he saw that the name of the murga on the drum was that of his company, he got angry and demanded that it be removed immediately, telling the group that the name itself was nifú-nifá (neither here nor there / of no importance or relevance), but that the company was very serious and it was not necessary to confuse it with the carnival.

Which is how the current name emerged, that of Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá.

In that same year, with only one day left until the end of the carnival celebrations, the city council realised, after discussion with the Provincial Delegation of Information and Tourism, that there were several murgas parading through the streets, so they set up the first contest of murgas, which was held in the Plaza del Príncipe, with a total of five murgas participating. In addition to the Fufa were: the murga of “El Chucho” of Valleseco, the murga “Marte”, the murga “La Silenciosa” of Tacoronte and the murga "Pepe". The winner was the Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá, making them the winners of the First Prize of the First Murga Contest of the First Winter Festival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

In 1962 the murgas contest was held in the Santa Cruz Bullring. For the second time, La Fufa won the contest and this was repeated in the following years: (1963, 1964 and 1965). In 1966, the then veteran Afilarmónica, made the decision to go to the contest but participated without competing for the awards, a decision that has remained ever since. It was also in 1966, when they first released the Cubanito, a song that remains in their repertoire year after year and has become something of a carnival hymn.

Historia Afilarmónica Ni Fu Ni Fa

The Afilarmónica Nifú Nifá at the head of the Carnival Parade on Tuesday 5 March 2019

El Jueves Lardero - Lardy Thursday

Hornazo by Juan Fernández (JuanJaén) [CC BY-SA 2.0]

Did you know that today is "Jueves Lardero" Lardy Thursday (Fat Thursday in many European Countries), a day that is also known in many places in Spain as "the day of Tortilla"? Don't worry if you didn't, nor did I, but I love the name!

On this day the carnival celebrations begin, according to tradition that dates way back to the Middle Ages, and it is a week away from Ash Wednesday that will announce the beginning of Lent, the 40 days before Holy Week, during which - by Christian tradition - you should not eat meat, nor celebrate anything. This gives us the origin of this week of costumes, parties, carnival and other excess.

The word "Lardero" comes from "Lardo" which is what the fat or lard of the pig was originally called (from the Latin "lardarius"). In Catalonia this day is known as "Dijous Gras" (Fatty Thursday).

But ... what does this have to do with the day of the tortilla?

During Saturnalia, the pagan festivities that were celebrated in ancient Rome in honour of the God Saturn, "tortillas" based on flour and fat or lard were cooked and it was popular to go to the countryside to eat it. Nowadays the flour and fat of the tortillas have been replaced by eggs and that is why it's traditional today to take a tortilla sandwich to take to school or work. But each region or community celebrates the day in a different way.

Jueves Lardero is the popular name given to the Thursday before carnival, especially in the Castilian-Aragonese area. It comes from the verb lardear (to spread or wrap what is going to be roasted with grease), and it's customary to eat sausages, bacon and pork on that day. In Catalonia, on Lardy Thursday, it's traditional to eat tortilla with butifarra. And in Soria there is a proverb that says "Juederos lardero, chorizo ​​entero", referring to the custom of going on a picnic with bread, pork loin and a whole chorizo. In Albacete it's the "day of the mona", the day where the typical "hornazo", a bread with a hard-boiled egg in the center is consumed that is also common in some areas of Andalusia.

Via: La Laguna Ahora. ¿Qué es el jueves lardero?

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival Queen 2020

Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2020 Sara Cruz Teja

Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2020 was Sara Cruz Teja, with "Sentir" (Feel), designed by Sedomir Rodríguez de la Sierra and sponsored by hypermarket Centro Comercial Alcampo La Laguna.

In 2020, the court was made of:

1. First Maid of Honour: María José Chinea Cabrera, with the costume ‘Un nuevo amanecer’ (A new dawn), designed by Jorge González Santana, sponsored by bottled water brand Fuentealta.
2. Second Maid of Honour: Laura García Repo with ‘El secreto de Lola’ (Lola's Secret) by Borja Abreu, representing distiller, Ron la Indiana.
3. Third Maid of Honour: Judith Miguélez Díaz, with ‘Mararía’ (Mararía (1973) is the most famous novel by Canarian writer Rafael Arozarena) by Daniel Pages, sponsored by McDonald’s and newspaper El Día.
4. Fourth Maid of Honour: Elisabeth Ledesma Laker with ‘Estas cuatro palabras’ (These four words) by Santi Castro, representing Centro Comercial Añaza Carrefour.

Sara Cruz Teja, Reina del Carnaval de  ‘Los coquetos años 50’

The theme of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2020 was The Flirty Fifties. Also known as "The Calima Carnival", due to the suspended dust from the Sahara that covered the entire Canary archipelago during the first days of the street carnival.

During the gala, directed by designers Marcos Marrero and María Díaz, which began with an overture based on the popular song "Santa Cruz en Carnaval", the 16 candidates each paraded on stage twice. In the final moment, only eight finalists took to the stage, because despite the large size of the stage, it was too small to host all of the candidates at the same time. The gala featured performances by Paulina Rubio and Soraya Arnelas, who, in addition to singing, served as master of ceremonies with Alexis Hernández and Pedro Rodríguez.

VIDEO: Gala de la Reina del Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2020

Senior Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz 2020

Senior Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz 2020

Senior Carnival Queen 2020, Consuelo Pérez Arbelo, was crowned last night at the Gala de la Elección Reina de los Mayores Santa Cruz 2020 held at The Tenerife International Fairs and Congress Centre. Her costume is entitled Sonora de Amor (Soundtrack of Love), designed by Alexis Santana and sponsored by the shopkeepers of the Zona Comercial Abierta de Santa Úrsula.

Her court is made up as follows:

• First Matron of Honour: Concepción Hernández Expósito in a costume entitled Renacer (Reborn), designed by Williams Luis Alonso and representing the Town Hall of Santiago del Teide.
• Second Matron of Honour: Josefa Herrero Hernández, with Gloria al Cielo (Glory to Heaven) designed by Alexis González and representing Floristería Maxiflor and Calzados Febles Tacoronte. 
• Third Matron of Honour: Eulalia Yanes Sierra, with the design, Sempiterno (Everlasting) by Cristian Santana and representing San Miguel de Abona and Chinatown Shopping Center S.L.
• Fourth Matron of Honour: Candelaria Pérez Domínguez with the design, En la flor de la vida (In the prime of life) by David Afonso, representing the Department of Tourism of Arona and Restaurante Las Cazuelitas de Feriche.

The awards were presented by mayor, Patricia Hernández; Andrés Martín Casanova, of the Autonomous Organization of Parties and Recreational Activities and outgoing senior carnival queen, Antonia Garrido Francés. The remaining four candidates were: Candelaria Rodríguez Hernández, Carmen Marina Ramos Mesa, María Cristina Santana González and Emma Sánchez Lojo.

VIDEO: Consuelo Pérez Arbelo | Gala de la Elección de la Reina 2020

Junior Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz 2020

Junior Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2020

The city of Santa Cruz elected the first of its carnival queens for 2020 on Sunday 9 February. Crowned Junior Carnival Queen 2020 at the gala held at the Tenerife International Centre for Trade Fairs and Congresses, was Violeta García García with a costume in the form of a vintage Singer sewing machine, entitled, ‘La más anciana de la vieja fábrica’ (The oldest in the old factory), designed by Alexis Santana Rodríguez and representing Construcciones y Reformas Eliazar Jesús and Restaurante La Punta.

Her court is made up of the following:

1. First Maid of Honour is Allegra Sebbe Repeto with a costume entitled ‘¿Jugamos?’ (Shall we play?), designed by Borja Abreu and represeting La Santa, Tasca Aquí y Ahora and Marisquería Nicomedes.
2. Second Maid of Honour is María Eugenia Meza Barbuzano, with a design entitled, ‘Mil historias’ (A thousant stories) designed by Sedomir Rodríguez de la Sierra, representing Tomás Meza Clínica Dental.
3. Third Maid of Honour is Paula González Sánchez with a costume entitled ‘El mundo que habito’ (The world I inhabit) by Riverol Creaciones, representing Diseñadores del Carnaval Ahuarita.
4. Fourth Maid of Honour is Daniella Saraith Vilora Abreu with ‘Entre un cocodrilo y un príncipe guapo, me enamoro de un sapo’ (Between a crocodile and a handsome prince, I fall in love with a toad), by Ruymán Pérez Jorge, representing Plus Hogar Tenerife.

Eleven candidates took part in the contest, the remaining six candidates were; Paula Mallorquín Díaz, Chloe Breban, Larissay Beatriz Catarine Aguiar, Valentina Alejandra Pérez Osorio, Ainoha Torres Rodríguez and Nayara Vera Siverio. More photos of the junior carnival queen and her court

Summary of the Gala de la Reina Infantil del Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2020. Watch the full Gala Reina Infantil Carnaval S/C de Tenerife 2020.

Tenerife Rally Calendar 2020

Federación Interinsular de Automovilismo de Santa Cruz de Tenerife

7 Dec 2020: The Fedration has cancelled of the rest of the season.

COVID-19: All motorsports competitions are suspended in the Canary Islands

UPDATE 18/3: Some events have been postponed. New dates listed below.

The Federación Interinsular de Automovilismo de Santa Cruz de Tenerife FIASCT (Tenerife Motor Sport Federation) have publised a DRAFT calendar of events for this year's rally season (download PDF here in Spanish) and there are some changes to the format - they also have a shiny new website. This is for the province of Santa Cruz (not just the island or the city), so includes events on La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro too.

		RALLYE (Rally)		MONTAÑA (Hillclimbs)		TIERRA
FEB	01/02
	08/09					San Miguel
	15/16			Palo Blanco
	22/23
	29/01
MAR	07/08
	14/15					Arico
	21/22
	28/29	Orvecame Norte POSTPONED UNTIL 9th-10th October
APR	04/05	RallySprint Atogo POSTPONED UNTIL 12 September
	11/12
	18/19			Los Loros POSTPONED UNTIL 4th-5th December		La Guancha POSTPONED Pending new date
	25/26
MAY	02/03	Villa de Adeje POSTPONED UNTIL December. Date TBC CANCELLED (hopefully to be held in Spring 2021)
	09/10
	16/17
	23/24			Alajeró POSTPONED
	30/31
JUN	06/07			Guía de Isora POSTPONED
	13/14
	20/21	Granadilla POSTPONED
	27/28
JUL	04/05			Güímar POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER
	11/12					Isla Tenerife
	18/19
	25/26	City of La Laguna POSTPONED UNTIL 2021
AUG	01/02
	08/09
	15/16
	22/23
	29/30	Sprint Arico				La Guancha
SEP	05/06			La Cumbre
	12/13	RallySprint Atogo		San Miguel
	19/20			Güímar SUSPENDED
	26/27					Arico
OCT	03/04			Tamaimo CANCELLED
	10/11	Orvecame Norte
	17/18			Arona-La Escalona CANCELLED
	24/25
	31/01	Isle of Tenerife
NOV	07/08			Icod-La Guancha
	14/15	La Gomera
	21/22
	28/29					El Hierro
DEC	05/06			Guía de Isora
	12/13	Santiago del Teide
	19/20					Trophy Gala
	26/27

When Tenerife Carnival was 'disguised' as Winter Festival (From 1961 to 1976)

Posters for the Fiestas de Invierno 1962 - 1965

During the dictatorship of Franco, carnival celebrations were banned throughout the country, but after the period of the wars: Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and World War II (1939-1945), the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was held clandestinely, to a greater or lesser extent according to the tolerance level of the different governors. In 1954, Civil Governor of the province, Arias Navarro, prohibited the celebration of carnivals, while the greatest carnival tolerance was demonstrated by governor of the island, Santiago Galindo Herrero (1958-1960), who liked to attend most of the events that were celebrated.

Josefina Soriano Vela, Queen
of the Fiestas de Invierno
(Winter Festival) 1968

Then in 1961, then civil governor Manuel Ballesteros Gaibrois, the bishop of Tenerife, Domingo Pérez Cáceres, and the secretary of the Provincial Board of Information and Tourism, Opelio Rodríguez Peña, had the happy idea of ​​replacing the name of Carnival with Fiestas de Invierno (Winter Festival).

It seems clear to me that the real motivation behind this name change, therefore, was to attract tourism and money and to improve the economy of the island, rather than it simply being to meet the popular demand and indeed, in 1967, the Winter Festival was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest.

After the death of Franco and the arrival of democracy in 1976, Carnival regained its name and became the popular festival, declared, in 1980, Festival of International Tourist Interest and part of the history of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.


Fiestas de Invierno 1971

Tenerife in February 2020

Almond Blossom

February 2020 brings us all the excitement of the biggest party of the year: the carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, but before that, February 2nd will have events in honour of the Virgen de la Candelaria, although this year that date is NOT a public holiday as it already falls on a Sunday.

The theme of Los Gigantes Carnival 2020, which takes place between 6 March and 14 March, is Las mil y una noches (One Thousand and One Nights), (coincidentally, the theme in Santa Cruz 25 years ago), so you can submerge yourself in the story of Sherezade or the adventures of Aladin and his magic lamp. 

Friday March 06
21:30 hrs: Gala Election of the Carnival Queen with performances of Comparsa Los Joroperos comparsa and Káren Méndez.
23:00 hrs: Great carnival dance with DJ 8smille, Ray Castellano and the TRB Mussically Band.

Saturday March 07
11:00 hrs: Carnival ludoparque (Sports activities?)
11:30 hrs: Carnacan Carnavalero. Carnival parade for pets.
17:30 hrs: Gala for the Election to the Junior Carnival Queen, with participation from local coreographic groups and Ballet Epsylon.
23:00 hrs: Carnival dance with Arguayo Band, Orqestra Tropin and Grupo LD, during which, the winners of the best male and female indivudual costumes, couples, groups, etc, will be awarded.
* throughout the day comparasas will parade around various hotel complexes.

Sunday March 08
17:00 hrs: Coso del carnaval (main parade) with the participation of carnival groups, comparsas, floats with the queen and maids of honour.
On arrival in the plaza, verbena (open air dance) with the Orqestra Maquinaria Band.

Monday March 09
Exhibition of carnival costumes in the Plaza Buganvilla in Los Gigantes.

Tuesday March 10
Exhibition of carnival costumes in the Plaza Buganvilla in Los Gigantes.

Wednesday March 11
16:30 hrs: Carnival afternoon for the elderly, with performances by seniors groups from the municipality and Pepe Benavente.

Thursday March 12
21:00 hrs: Drag Gala for Diversity and Artistic Equality Los Gigantes 2020, afterwards performance by Grupo Contratiempo.

Friday March 13
18:00 hrs: Wake for the Sardine with musical performances of Old Dogs and Tío Franklin.
21:00 hrs: Burial of the Sardine. Afterwards, fireworks display by Hermanos Toste.
00.00 hrs: Widows' Ball with Orqestra Maraury.

Saturday March 14
Los Gigantes Daytime Carnival 2020
11:00 - 14:00 hrs: Cross Infantil Los Gigantes 2020
11:00 - 14:00 hrs: Children's carnival ludoparque.
14:00 hrs: DJ Musica Comercial
16:00 hrs: Grupo La Calle
18:00 hrs: La Mekánica by Tamarindos
20:00 hrs: Jadel
21.00 hrs: King Africa
22:00 hrs: Grupo La Calle
00:00 hrs: Combo Dominicano

El Alcalde presenta el Carnaval de "Las Mil y Una Noches" de Los Gigantes

There is to be a Valentine's Day Concert by the Trío Atenea at the Auditorio Infanta Leonor in Los Cristianos. The Athena Trio perform classical works of lyrical music and comprise; Néstor Galván: Tenor, Qingmei Liao: Soprano and Ana Laura Simoes: Pianist. Friday 14 February at 8:30 pm. Entrance €10.

Escudería Daute-Realejos (Team Daute-Realejos) have announced the 8th Edition of their Palo Blanco Hillclimb, which was reintroduced into the rally calendar last year after an absense. This event takes place on Saturday 15 February and has 52 participants lined up.

Also on Saturday 15 February, from 11 am to 2 pm, the Casa del Vino de Tenerife, Calle San Simón, 49, 38360 El Sauzal, is holding a wine tasting workshop for rosé wines. 

Each year on February 15th (this year a Saturday), from 5 a.m. onwards, the doors of the Santa Catalina convent in La Laguna will be opened for the faithful to queue around the block for the chance to view the incorrupt body of Sor María de Jesús (Sister Mary of Jesus) (1643 – 1731), known as La Siervita.

In Santa Cruz the carnival inauguration gala took place on January 24 and the contests have been ongoing since January 30. The Program for Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2020 lists the remaining contests and galas in the lead up to Carnival 2020 in the streets, which takes place between Friday, 21st February 2020 and Sunday, 1st March 2020. Monday of Carnival (February 24) will also be a local holiday in the city of Santa Cruz and Martes de Carnaval (Carnival Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday) is a municipal holiday in Adeje, Arafo, Arico, Arona, Candelaria, El Rosario, El Sauzal, Fasnia, Granadilla, Icod, La Guanza, La Matanza, La Orotava, La Victoria, Puerto de la Cruz, la Laguna, San Miguel, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santa Úrsula and Tacoronte.

Carnival will turn the town of La Orotava into 'La Villa de la Fantasia' (Fantasyland) in 2020. The town's carnival runs from Friday 21 February to Sunday 1 March and has a long and varied program of events, the main day of which is Tuesday 25: Apotheosis Tuesday, with the - Paseo del Valle of Vintage Cars and performance of the Fanota Orotava and at 17:00: From the Cruz del Teide, the Great Cosmic Apotheosis of the Carnival (Main Parade) with the participation of various groups of the island of Tenerife. The route will be the usual route through the Cruz del Teide area, Salazar streets, San Francisco, Estévez Sculptor and Calvario, culminating in Plaza la Paz.

Programa de actos del Carnaval de La Orotava 2020

Puerto de la Cruz carnival, is between Friday, 7 February and Sunday, 1 March.