After more than 20 years, posts here will now only be occasional ( |
| Carla Castro Castellano, Carnaval Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2026 |
Mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, together with Queen of 2025, Elizabeth Ledesma Laker, presented the sceptre to the new sovereign.
Now, the festivities can take to the streets with the Opening Parade this Friday, February 13th, bringing the events at the Tenerife International Centre for Trade Fairs and Congresses for this year to a spectacular close.
Ladies-in-Waiting
The new queen will be accompanied by her four ladies-in-waiting. The first lady-in-waiting is Arlena Rubí Mantecón Hernández with “Luminis” (of the light) by Santi Castro, representing the Añaza Carrefour Shopping Centre.
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| Arlena Rubí Mantecón Hernández with “Luminis,” by Santi Castro |
It's been a pretty good year for Santi Castro, with his designs winning both the Junior and Senior Carnival Queens and now the first lady-in-waiting. Santi's name has been familiar to me for as long as I've been following the Santa Cruz Carnival - for which he's been designing since 1980 - and with no need to be impartial in my retirement, I can now reveal that he's always been my favourite. There have been times when I've felt he was robbed of a win, because the judges perhaps weren't brave enough to go with his avant-garde designs, but this time, as his candidate paraded first at the gala, we were struck by how "conservative" it seemed, comparatively at least.
Then we disolved into fits of giggles at the mere idea of applying the word "conservative" to any of these, frankly ridiculous, if fantastic, creations.
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| Cecilia Esther Díaz Hernández, with ‘Sueños de Cristal’, by Sedomir Rodríguez de la Sierra |
Cecilia Esther Díaz Hernández was chosen as second lady-in-waiting with her fantasy “Sueños de Cristal” (Crystal Dreams), by Sedomir Rodríguez de la Sierra, representing Dormitorum and Diario de Avisos.
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| Daniela Sánchez Padilla, with ‘Atamande‘, by Team Santana Carnaval |
The third lady-in-waiting is Daniela Sánchez Padilla, with “Atamande”, from Team Santana Carnaval, representing Repsol Grupo González Canarias.
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| Alianara León Hernández, with ‘De tu infierno a mi cielo’, by Yosué Riverol |
The court is completed by Alianara León Hernández with “De tu infierno a mi cielo” (From your hell to my heaven), by Yosué Riverol, representing the Island Council of La Palma and the Illustrious City Council of El Paso.
This year's gala has not been without criticism, with El Día newspaper listing among the worst parts, the designers' musical choices - we also felt that the music chosen for many of the candidates seemed to bear no relation to their designs and definitely no relation to carnival - and the sound problems.
Well, the worst of the sound issues wasn't so much the failure of the sound during the performance by Los 4 (somewhat ironic, as there were 5 of them) group from Cuba, so much as that it didn't fail during the turn of Manny Manuel, Puerto Rican singer, of whom one commentator opined, "Manny Manuel no longer sings like he used to, or he was drunk." We thought so too. The most generous said that the artist, once considered as "the king of merengue", wasn't having his best night. Lots of people agree that there are better Latin acts, but it seems very apparent it's a matter of budget.
There was also aesthetic debate. Several comments agreed that silver and gold predominated this year, with very little chromatic variety.
Diario de Avisos even went as far as to draw parallels with the gala of 2007, with their headline “Not even Amargo dared to go this far”, recalling the bitterly contentious event, when Rafael Amargo presented a gala that eliminated the essence of Carnival to turn it into an empty television show, without rhythm and that left the candidates in the background. Disagree, NOTHING could be that bad. To be fair, it wasn't it's best year either.
The Queen representing the Hogar Canario Venezolano (Venezuelan-Canarian Home) did not participate in the Gala for the first time this year, breaking a 42 year old tradition. This news was shared by the mayor of the capital, José Manuel Bermúdez, who confirmed the group's absence due to 'bureaucratic difficulties' due to the current situation in the country.
VIDEO: Gala Reina adulta Carnaval S/C de Tenerife | 2026
233 images from the Carnival Queen Gala in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2026
Carla Castro Castellano, Reina del Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2026
Minuto a minuto, la Gala de la Reina del Carnaval de Santa Cruz