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Sod's Law always brings some rain or bad weather, at least once while carnaval is on in the Canary Islands and this year has been no exception, which explains why the sky is washed out and the colours a bit hazy in these photos.


Carnaval goers wouldn't go hungry with stalls selling food in the Plaza de Charco.But all of the events and concerts planned in Santa Cruz yesterday, got postponed because of the rains (well, actually a multiple-choice, smorgasbord of strange weather phenomena), with hot calima coming in from the east and cold air from the west, so it was no wonder it collided in the middle and created a huge storm. And boy, that was some storm we had in the early hours of Saturday too!

Even La Palma got snow!


No costume, no problem! You'd have be as mad as a hatter to pay the "last minute" prices tho!As Leslie says, "Clouds creeping over Mt Teide & Las Canadas from a Southerly direction is not a good sign." Normal weather it was not!

Here at "Secret Tenerife Towers," we were woken at 5.30 a.m. when lightening struck an electrical pylon, not 25 meters from the house with a noise like a huge explosion!

So, after 9 hours without power; cold, damp, no hot food, no decent coffee, we decided to go out.

After a call down to Puerto de la Cruz to get the advance weather report, we left to go see some of their closing carnaval parade.

Like everything here, the Gran Coso Apoteosis del Puerto de la Cruz was listed as starting at 4 p.m., but the reality was that it started at 5 p.m. at the "wrong" end of town for those of us who needed to dash back to the bus station to catch our last bus home at 6 p.m.

This reduced the couple of hours we thought we had to a mere 5 minutes of the parade and meant we didn't see a lot, but we do have some photos for you:

Coso Puerto de la Cruz 2008

Labels: Carnaval 2008

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Yesterday's events in Santa Cruz were postponed because of bad weather and were to be held today (all same time, same place) instead, meanwhile amongst the regular events already scheduled for the final day of Santa Cruz Carnaval was the XXXVII Gran Concurso en la Ciudad de Automóviles Antiguos.

Classic car fanatics would have found many of these beautiful old vehicles in the streets around the old quarter of Plaza de la Iglesia and Calle La Noria from about 10 a.m. on Sunday, with a circuit of city streets at about midday.

If we could go back to those days ... when private cars were so "scarce" that drivers would wave at any other "motorist" they encountered and not the sardine-packed 690 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants we have today.

One of the main events of carnaval in La Orotava, in the north of Tenerife, was their XXXVI Rally de Coches Antiguos (36th Classic Car Rally).

As well as the old cars and various other events during the day, there is also the Gran Fin de Fiesta del Carnaval 2008 (end of carnaval party) from around 5 p.m. in the Círculo de Amistad XII de Enero, which I think draws the senior citizens.

But don't be fooled by the "last day" business: carnaval is not yet over, because it now moves off round the island to other locations next week!

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Miss Piggy stops to gets a light during the kids' carnaval parade in Santa Cruz (early 1990s)Santa Cruz hopes to recuperate the Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnaval), with a number of events to take place today, Sábado de Piñata (Piñata Saturday).

From midday, five areas of the capital (Plaza Weyler, Plaza de Candelaria, Calle de La Noria, Plaza de Europa and Plaza del Príncipe) will be staging various concerts, featuring; Orishas and Idaira, Edwin Rivera and Billos Caracas Boys, Pepe Benavente and Orquesta Gomeray; Village Boyz and Enrique Furiati among others.

This is all being promoted as a family day, though it might be to encourage noise during the day instead of at night. :)

It certainly isn't going to stop the noise inside the city with all those concerts going on and with the planned "bombazos" (a sort of 12 mega-firework salute) that will almost literally blast off the day.

Later, at 2 p.m. there is to be a "sound spectacle" with more daytime fireworks being set off in the Plaza de España.

Also advertised are "rains of colour" from six confetti canons to be installed in the Plaza de La Candelaria, Plaza de Europa and Plaza del Príncipe.

And entrance to all of these shows and concerts is free.

The final Saturday of carnaval is also traditionally the day of the children's carnaval parade, which, this year is listed as being on between 6 and 7 p.m.


(Above) A float, perhaps the junior queen, at the kids' carnaval parade in Santa Cruz (early 1990s)

(Top left) Strangely KKK looking costumes from the kids' carnaval parade in Santa Cruz (early 1990s)

(Left) Elephants never ... Forget prancing down the main streets of Santa Cruz (early 1990s)






The bad news is that the weather prediction for this weekend in Tenerife (for Friday and Saturday, at least), is for chubascos fuertes (heavy showers).

Gran fiesta para toda la familia el Sábado de Piñata

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Orishas in Tenerife

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Can we imagine a family night out solely about witnessing displays of blasphemy and hardcore porn?

Anything you heard about Carnaval in Tenerife, so far, that you thought was maybe surreal, a bit OTT, downright rude, utterly crazy ... will be rendered tame today, Ash Wednesday.

Lent ("Christian Ramadan") begins and, tonight there's a "funeral" taking place, the Entierro de la Sardina to lament the death of the fiestas. The significance of the sardine is that it represents the return from the anarchy and craziness of carnaval, back to the everyday order.

Apart from the final weekend to come, referred to as the piñata, carnaval is beginning to end, officially, in Santa Cruz for another year.

Although the event is called a burial (entierro means putting in the earth, literally), it would be more properly called a cremation, but that seems like an unnecessary and pedantic distinction, given the circumstances.

The video above, of the Entierro de la Sardina in 2007, shows the final moments, in the Calle La Noria, when the sardine effigy was burnt last year - that is after the funeral procession (and mucho alcohol had been consumed). Also symbolically, Guy Fawkes stylee, an effigy of the lawyer who represented the Neighbours' Association in their complaint about the noise was cremated.

(OK, so maybe 155 dB - louder than a jet engine roaring 100 feet from your ears - was a bit much for midnight, but their protests fell on deaf ears. :)

Nobody was going to be allowed to do away with more than 200 years of the "institution" of carnaval in the streets of Tenerife's capital.

If you go to the page about the Entierro de la Sardina at the carnaval's official site, click on the image there, because it will open up a whole gallery of excellent images of the sardine, the procession, plus all the accompanying widows and clergy.

Still, the best description of this whole surreal and blasphemous closing parade is Julie Burchill's article, Carnaval Queen.


A couple of widows at Santa Cruz' Burial of the Sardine in 2007.
Photo: kasia kazmierskaShe asks, "Can we imagine a family night out solely about witnessing displays of blasphemy and hardcore porn?"

The sardine's "widows", most are blokes in drag , dressed tartilly (they're going on the game) in black , wailing inconsolably at their loss. Others dress as popes, priests, pregnant nuns, "many of them carrying huge dildos with which they blessed the crowd", says Burchill.

She continues, "On the night the sardine is laid to rest, you realise how irretrievably the Catholic church's backing of Fascism during the second world war has damaged its reputation in its heartland. I knew that the Catholic countries of southern Europe now boast the lowest birth-rates in the world, but I never realised how complete their contempt for their religion is until I saw the burial."

La Laguna Ahora published an article today which explains that during the "Fiestas de Invierno" (Winter Festival), the name that carnaval had to go under during Franco's dictatorship, they used to have to mess with the calendar to make sure that the sardine - which, of course, was "prohibited" anyway - didn't coincide with Ash Wednesday. Once liberties were regained, the event was restored with enthusiasm. They have wonderful old sepia photos of the epoch.

The official site lists the event as running from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., starting from the Plaza de la Paz and ending in the Plaza de Europa. As with everything else, there will be fireworks to finish, just before the all-night revelries start.

More images of the Entierro de la Sardina at Carnaval 2007

Labels: Carnaval 2008

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The program for Tenerife Carnaval, says the parade kicks off from around 4 p.m. this afternoon in the Avenidas de Anaga y Marítima (map) along the sea front in Santa Cruz, culminating in a huge fireworks display (around 9 - 9.30 p.m.)



This video shows a montage of photos from the main Coso or carnaval parade in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2007 and here's a half hour film from that same Coso Apoteósico (Finale in the main streets), which last year drew a crowd of 110,000. Today is a holiday in the city of Santa Cruz, but as people come from all around the island (and world), numbers in the evening will swell to "and the rest."


Friday night's carnaval parade only announced that carnaval was ready (once all the contests had been held, the queen chosen, etc.) Today's is the Grand Finale.
Photo: pano_philouSo while Pancake Day may be at risk of dying out in the UK, I don't see evidence of carnaval losing its popularity, especially attendance at the main parade on Shrove Tuesday, or Carnaval Tuesday.

As is traditional, the parade will be headed by the Afilarmónica Ni Fú-Ni Fá , followed by 26 floats - which will include all 17 of the candidates for carnaval queen, not just the queen and her attendants - plus all the various dancing and singing troupes; comparsas, murgas, rondallas, etc.

There are also the familiar characters at carnaval such as; Charlie Chaplin, Fidel Castro, Kermit and Miss Piggy and even a touch of Elton John and Queen Marie-Antoinette - not to mention the hundreds that defy identification!


Bright colors in 2007's Coso.
Photo: pano_philouThese figures have become such local "institutions" (Santiago Díaz has been Harpo Marx since 1969, Francisco Arvelo became Michael Jackson in 1992), that there was an outpouring of public concern when Tenerife's Fidel Castro (real name, Antonio Meseguer) was stabbed during the 2006 Carnaval. Fortunately, he recovered from his injuries. The perp, however, Juan Francisco P.S. was condemned to 14 years in prison for attempted murder.

The following article, Por siempre y jamás del Carnaval (in Spanish) talks about these carnaval personalities and how they've become flagships of the fiestas.

Later on the 150 kilos or so of explosives, around 500 fireworks, will be provided by Los Realejos firm, Hermanos Toste and, of course, there's the funfair, the various bands for dancing in the streets until the next morning ...

The other thing I need to point out to those not familiar with the whole carnaval culture is that, though this parade is the carnaval's finale (because today is Shrove Tuesday and therefore carnaval "ends", because tomorrow is lent), there is the "funeral" (The Burial of the Sardine) tomorrow, Ash Wednesday and, even then the party continues in Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz through to the weekend, later moving on to other towns on the island.

Among traditional eats at carnaval time here (apart from perros calientes (hot dogs) and the mountains of other food at street stalls) are Rebandas de Carnaval or these Sopas de miel (literally honey soup, but which aren't soup at all.)

It's a chilly 54 °F / 12 °C in the north of Tenerife this morning, with some ominous scattered clouds. There nearly always are for carnaval day, but it'll warm up and there are no serious weather systems about, as far as I know.

Getting there and back: the bus company, TITSA, have as always, put on extra buses. This news item lists many of the numbers affected. For visitors coming from the south of the island, the bus number 111 from Las Americas to Santa Cruz is the most useful as the extra ones will run through the night and become virtually carnaval coaches and an extension of the party. Who needs Rio?

The Coso Apoteosis del Carnaval parade is being televised live by TVCanaria from 4 .p.m. this afternoon. It can also be seen on the Spanish mainland (at 5 p.m. there) on Digital+ (dial 96), in Europe via Astra or Hispasat satellites and, in America via TVCanaria's International Channel (from 11 a.m. EST).

More images of Carnaval de Santa Cruz 2007, Carnaval 2007 in Tenerife, gallery of photos, Carnaval 2007, more Carnaval 2007, Carnaval 2007

Le Carnaval de Tenerife (en Français)

Carnaval numbers keep increasing ...

Some 60,000 people - 10,000 more than last year - attended yesterday's parody fiesta of Los Indianos in La Palma, according to local police, report ABC.

Labels: Carnaval 2008

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It's the turn of Santa Cruz de La Palma, the capital of our neighbouring island, to provide the curious custom of the day in the province.

The video above, found via the folks at Un vistazo a Santa Cruz de Tenerife (more images ), is a promotional video for the Los Indianos fiesta that happens in Santa Cruz de La Palma every year on Carnaval Monday. Even if you don't understand, there's some lovely footage of the beautiful town - before it becomes besieged by thousands of battlers with baby powder.

The fiesta of Los Indianos, in which everyone (about 50,000 people last year) dresses in white - men preferably in the guayaberas (a.k.a. Beach wedding shirts) traditionally associated with Cuba and, also often carrying their luggage - better yet if it is typical of the period; leather suitcases and trunks , maybe filled with Monopoly money, started off to poke fun at the emigrants returning from Cuba (At the start of the 20th Century, around 7 ships a month left La Palma for La Habana (Havana.), who, having "made their fortune" arrived back home in La Palma ostentatiously showing off their wealth and finery.

These fiestas, to the rhythm of Son Cubano, also enact a talcum powder battle in the city's streets. First mentioned in writing in 1867, by José Viera y Clavijo as "los polvos" (the powders), though the tradition itself is older than that.

Award winning travel writer and author of More Ketchup than Salsa, Joe Cawley enlisted to serve in the talcum war one year and survived, battle warn - if smelling of roses and possibly being "as smooth as a baby's derriere" can be called that - to tell the tale of the Battle in a bottle.

Sheila Crosby, who says, "When I lived in Santa Cruz, you could follow the progress of the parade by the cloud of talc drifting above the four-storey buildings on the route, " has photos of Los Indianos, 2007 here and, if we're really fortunate, perhaps she may post a report later at her new blog about the island of la Palma, A small rock in the Atlantic.

The talcum powder - about 5,000 kilograms of the stuff was given out by the town hall this year - harks back to an age old custom of throwing eggs (the white and yolk having been previously removed) refilled with talc (or flour) and confetti at the masked carnaval goers from the windows and balconies.

Just don't go asking me why this age-old custom exists.

Officially, these fiestas started at about noon or before - it was on TV most of the afternoon - and the parade carries on throughout the evening and on well into the night. The talcum powder stays around for weeks, apparently! :)

More photos: Indianos Santa Cruz La Palma 2007 .

More in Spanish: La Palma: La capital se viste de blanco con el desfile de Los Indianos, Los Indianos de la Palma , Los Indianos de la Palma , Más de 50.000 indianos toman La Palma , Indianos en la Wikipedia.

If you think throats will be rather dry in all that talcum powder, don't worry, there'll probably be the odd mojito - traditional Cuban cocktail made from rum, citrus and mint - to refresh the revellers. :)

Cuban Mojito recipe

The original authentic recipe from Havana Cuba

1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces)
4 mint leaves
1 sprig of mint
Havana Club white Rum (2 ounces)
2 ounces club soda

Source: Taste of Cuba.

The word mojito is derived from the diminutive of the word mojo, which is a Canarian word for the sauce that originated in the Canary Islands.

The word and the sauce were introduced into Cuba and the Caribbean, due to heavy Canarian emigration. The recipe is for the authentic mojito much favored by Ernest Hemmingway (and rediscovered by Michael Palin in his Hemmingway Adventure), direct from the coctail's birthplace, the La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba. Those of you who don't have time to mix coctails or go all the way to Havana can also find La Bodeguita del Medio in an alleyway off Kensington High Street in London or try the trendy restaurant and pub, Mojos y Mojitos, in the old quarter of Calle de La Noria, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Labels: Carnaval 2008

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Image © Javier Salmones Downloaded at: SkinBase. More Carnaval images ...

Bearly there costumes, Amy Winehouse eye make-up, whatever else it is, Carnaval was never intended to be a sober and tasteful celebration, was it?

That's probably why we love it so much and Franco didn't.



Un vistazo a Santa Cruz de Tenerife (A look at Santa Cruz, Tenerife) blog posted this video of carnaval dance band, Billos Caracas Boys, the orchestra formed by Billo Frómeta (1915 - 1988). It probably won't be nostalgia to you, unless you remember the "good old days" depicted, but musically, you'll hear where just about every local fiesta band on these islands got it's influence.

Amongst the collage of images shown is the front page of local newspaper, Diario de Avisos, from when Santa Cruz carnaval made the Guinness World Records in 1987 for the highest number of people attending a dance: 250,000 people danced to the legendary Celia Cruz at the carnival ball that year.

Oh yes, and Ángel Llanos announced the recuperation of Billo's Caracas Boys for the Carnaval 2008. Remember though, this is the same guy who told us that Elton John was coming to Santa Cruz, in November. :)

(More video: Celia Cruz - La Vida Es Un Carnaval)

More Tenerife Carnaval 2008 Images


Photo: vituh2001Un vistazo posted the video while waiting for Friday night's cabalgata anunciadora (the cavalcade that announces / brings carnaval to the streets). Canarias24horas have a nice set of photos from the parade here and Alex Veccia has an absolutely fantastic set of images from the Gala Carnaval Queen Santa Cruz 2008 held last Wednesday.

Two more images of this year's Carnaval Queen, The Golden Age, here and here. Both of those open up as much larger images if you click on them and I recommend you do to see some of the details on the costume.

Monsters and Critics don't beat about the bush: they say, "Sophia Loren's real breasts at age 73 beat starlets' big fake ones" and offer comparisons. I think they presented their case well. :)

This delightful image should provide the final proof though.

Why Fashion blog has more photos here of Santa Cruz' carnaval queen from the gala and another picture of actor Gérard Depardieu taking a great interest in Sophia Loren's decolletage.

Depardieu to put Canarian Wines on the table in Paris

Canarias7 also report that recognized gourmet, Gérard Depardieu (yes, the same actor and connoisseur of cleavages), spent quite some time tasting wines on the island while he was here for the carnaval gala too. Depardieu, who owns 150 hectares of vineyards around the world himself, bought wines to include in the menus of his two restaurants in the center of Paris. (Nothing like taking coals to Newcastle, eh?) Apparently, he also ordered a sample of the islands' traditional potatoes for his own consumption and for his establishments.

So while Gérard dishes the dinner and wines and cheeses of the island of La Gomera are to be sold around Europe too, Sheila in La Palma has started a new blog about that small rock in the Atlantic, explaining where it is and with the cutest Flintstone-powered bus from the local school carnaval procession.

More Carnaval Costume Pulling Championships

Jack had a sudden yearning for blancmange, while watching ample contestants as they sorted the logistics of fitting many small van sized chariots-come-costumes onto a stage clearly not designed for the task at Friday night's gala to choose the Carnaval Queen in Puerto de la Cruz. This article did mention that the costumes in Santa Cruz weigh up to 200 kilos. That, I work out to be 441 pounds or 31.5 stone, which is like dragging a couple of Sumo wrestlers around.

Frank, a Gran Canario living in the USA said here that the junior carnaval queen contest had turned into more like a moving version of Macy's Christmas window display! Canarias Bruta called it the "Campeonato infantil de arrastre de chatarra 2008" (Junior junk pulling championships 2008), basically. :)

If you've seen The Count of Monte Cristo, you'll know that chatarra (the nickname given to Edmond Dantes by the pirate captain, Luigi Vampa) means driftwood. It also means scrap metal, junk and the breaker's yard where you take old cars to die ... Arrastre - weight pulling - is also what oxen do.

Jack may not be prepared with a costume, but the local authorities are with 7,000 free condoms to hand out during the town's fiestas. You don't want to end up in this woman's situation. Nor these two British nationals caught with 2,000 ecstasy tablets that police say they planned to sell at Carnaval.

This will all be repeated ...

While all this pure annual frivolity is going on (and elsewhere people were watching - or eating - a Groundhog who predicts six more weeks of winter), Vida de Sol en Tenerife (who also cover carnaval 2008 in the various towns of Tenerife in French) remind us (in French, with international photos) that February 2nd was also Candlemas and the fiesta to celebrate the Virgin de Candelaria, the patron of the Canary Islands, in Candelaria, Tenerife.

Then there's also Carnevale in Madrid too. Beautiful pics.

But even after all that, my favorite headline of the week was IUC acusa a Zerolo de "practicar el marxismo de Groucho Marx" - the Izquierda Unida Canaria (Canarian United Left, a communist political party), accused Santa Cruz' mayor, Miguel Zerolo of "practicing the marxism of Groucho Marx". :)

Labels: Carnaval 2008

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If the Gala to select the Carnaval Queen in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, last year was "Amargo" (bitter), then this year's was surreal and, I'm not just talking about one of the candidates costumes, which included one of Salvador Dali's "melting" clocks and a picture of the mustachio'd artist on the flounce of her dress. Actually, that was my favourite, but I was surprised she got nowhere.

The televised gala in general was school end of term concert quality and there were the endless performances by all the carnaval groups and dancers. But, that's exactly what carnaval is all about, so it was good, despite all the technical hitches. They just added to the entertainment. The worst of those hiccups might have been that there was no sound to her mike all through Xiomara Laugart's first number, but it was surpassed because the sound did work through her second one.

The Orishas were good, even if they were miming (as you'd expect.)

The surreal part for me was seeing such an ostensibly English design, chosen by a panel of mostly Spanish judges - of course - that also included, French actor, Gérard Depardieu and Italian actress, Sophia Loren.

Well, I guess that's globalization for you! :)

It was reported that Loren said she would "probably" dress up in costume for carnaval. If she did yesterday, she came disguised as actress, Sophia Loren.

And the winner is ... Nauzet Celeste Cruz Melo in a Santi Castro designed costume entitled, "La Edad de Oro" (The Golden Age), representing the (French owned) supermarket chain, Carrefour. When she came out onto the stage originally, she was introduced as Queen Elizabeth I (you know, of England) and the music that was played while she paraded was "Rule Britannia".

Maybe Tenerife claimed Britannia 'coz Britain is taking her off the coins?

Anyway, you certainly can't accuse the Spanish of being bad losers, endorsing Queen Elizabeth I and Rule Britannia, given the history of the Armada! Nor indeed of any remaining animosity over the part she played in local history.

Elizabeth I is known to have backed English pirate, John Hawkins, who was slave trading partner of Pedro de Ponte (son of the man who paid for the conquest of Tenerife). Hawkins once lived in Ponte's house in Tenerife, in Adeje. The key may be that last night's "Queen Elizabeth I" is from next door in Arona.

The upshot, ladies and gentlemen, is what Nelson failed to do by force (and a few others before him), it seems we've finally managed to do with a Carnaval Queen (if only for a year) and, perhaps more surprisingly, we've achieved this Révolution surréaliste with French, Italian and Spanish help.

Britannia Rules the island of Tenerife! :-)


Canarias7 tell it (in Spanish) Magia y glamour en el Carnaval de Tenerife dejan atrás el trago 'amargo' de 2007, with the press photos here, here and here.

The Golden Age wins the 2008 Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Tenerife carnival recovers glamour after last year's deception

PS: Harry Potter and David Copperfield were magically made to disappear. That is, they were conspicuous by their complete absence at the gala and turned out to be mere Tenerife myth and rumour, as we'd suspected in the end.

PPS: That's all the contests done now, so today everyone gets a "day off" from partying. :) Tomorrow night, the Carnaval Party takes to the streets. The big parade in Santa Cruz is on Tuesday. More Carnaval news in due course.

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Orishas in Tenerife

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The other bit of big news this week is that Carnaval organizers in Tenerife's capital, Santa Cruz - the theme this year is magic - have done some real magic and pulled a couple last minute, prestigious "rabbits out of the hat."

Negotiations were finalized late on Tuesday, report ABC and EFE, via sources at Santa Cruz town hall, with Italian actress, Sophia Loren and French actor Gérard Depardieu for both stars to be part of the jury to decide on the Carnaval Queen 2008, in the Grand Gala to be televised next Wednesday, January 30th from the city's César Manrique Maritime Park.

(We don't know if Depardieu has been to the Canary Islands before or not, but his character, Christopher Columbus, in the 1992 film, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, was certainly known to drop in from time to time.)

This news, of course, leaves us with a couple of questions though:

If Ms Loren and Mr Depardieu are to be "the center of attention" (we are sure that the candidates in their costumes had hopes there ...), what does that say about previous reports (here, here and here) that British actor, magician Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, was to have been part of that jury? Is that report relegated to the ranks of mere rumour, as suggested in this article?

It certainly looks like another one of Tenerife's "mysteries", because Un vistazo a Santa Cruz de Tenerife blog list numerous other members of the jury (I won't list them, because, if you're from outside Spain, I'm sure you'll have never heard of them) and, in any case, Radcliffe is definitely not amongst the names.

Perhaps David Copperfield already made him disappear? (It was also reported earlier that illusionist David Copperfield is to be on hand to make last year's Carnaval Queen, Elizabeth García, disappear, costume included.)

Magic could come in handy, because Canarias Bruta report in Chiquito carnaval scenery builders have screwed up and the 17 contestants will not be able to access the stage via the central door, because their costumes won't fit.

Otherwise, Madrid magician, Jorge Blass and virtually unknown radio "personality", Iván Bonales (he, at least, comes from Santa Cruz), will present the Gala. Xiomara Laugart, who is currently playing the late Cuban singer, Celia Cruz, in a new Off Broadway musical and Cuban hip-hop band, Orishas - who have also written this year's official Carnaval song that you can download here - are reported to be performing at next Wednesday's Gala in Tenerife.



Image of vintage ad, via: DivineCaroline

Photo: mando maniac

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Orishas in Tenerife

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With the Carnaval season about to begin again this month, Real Tenerife Island Drives' Andrea Montgomery writes about her and Jack's experiences at Carnaval in Puerto de la Cruz.

We're standing at the Plaza Charco end of Calle Perdomo. A family walks past and the youngest child looks back, catches my eye and screams. There's a steady trickle of flashes from cameras as people ask if they can take our picture.

Three hours earlier we'd been watching the Barcelona match on TV, still dithering about whether or not we should attend Carnaval's opening party and not having given a moment's thought to a costume. After raiding the 'Halloween and Xmas Panto' box from our former lives in the UK, Jack emerged as a fiendish werewolf and, with the aid of a recently discarded mosquito net, I'm the Corpse Bride.

A sudden hike in volume in the music persuades us to abandon our diorama and join the throngs of furry animals, transvestites, super heroes, ghouls, witches, Smurfs, Cardinals and nuns (to name but a fraction) who've turned the street into an open air rave.

The small beer stands dotted along the centre of Perdomo and around the plaza and harbour area are doing brisk business in JDs and coke and the tapas stall has removed its high stools to make standing room only for the hordes of revellers whose attack of the munchies can only be sated by a Desperate Dan sized montadito or three.

By 3 am the whole of Plaza Charco, the harbour, Calles de Mequinez and Perdomo are dance floors and a circuit of them takes us through different music zones and their respective audiences. In the main plaza, a Latino band is pumping out salsa to couples who sashay and swirl in synchronised rhythm within the confines of their floor space. On Perdomo, Mequinez and Marina, the disco beat provides the background for a Club mix of grime and hip-hop with hot Latino undertones and one or two classic anthems riding the airwaves en route.

The circuit, which would normally take us 2 or 3 minutes to stroll, takes upwards of an hour to negotiate, only moving forward when the crowd permits and stopping at regular intervals to dance or order a drink. At one point we detour to the car park on Parque Marítimo, where we've abandoned the car until the sober hours of Sunday, and stumble across a whole alternative Carnaval.

Every other vehicle has its boot open and is distributing drinks from the small off licence within to throngs of teenagers who surround it. On the roof of an old battered VW van, a devil is standing at decks, lining up the next track in between swigs from a bottle of Soberano Rum. The van is shaking from the impact of the bass beat that pounds out across the car park. Everyone seems to know each other and they're all partying like it's their last chance ever to do so. But it's not, it's just the first night and over the course of the next 7 days, there'll be six more just like this one.

It's 5.30am before we finally arrive home having walked from the Plaza. I drag my weary limbs up the path to begin the tiresome and messy job of removing my theatrical make-up before my head can hit the pillow. By the time I wake up, I won't need the make-up to complete the look tomorrow night.

Click here to read more about Carnaval in Puerto de la Cruz


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Labels: Carnaval 2008, Real Tenerife Island Drives

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Oddities (and what isn't in Tenerife?) we borrowed from Typically Spanish, who came up with our favorite headline of the week, What a silly foca...

Foca, they rightly point out, is the Spanish word for seal and the story is about the Arctic one with faulty radar that is back in Spain again, after already being found off course in the Canary Islands back in April.

The experts don't seem to know why, but we reckon it could be something to do with the climate or the culture down here that sends seals a bit "funny". It's been known to have a similar effect on people. :)

Speaking of silly ... Rafael Amargo, who was responsible for putting the bitterness into last year's Carnaval Gala in Santa Cruz, was on Antena 3 TV's celeb gossip program, ¿Dónde Estás Corazón?, sort of apologizing on Friday night. The matter needs to be forgotten and put to bed, but, sadly, he didn't convince me of his sincerity and I doubt I'm unique.

(Understand that we only accidentally caught this program while rewinding an old VHS tape and, we wouldn't have stayed that long, but presenter Jaime Cantizano is a reasonable bit of, er eye candy!)

Ah, the faux pas (we mean total f*** up) over the gala was just "his way", according to Amargo and, the show revealed that he had been paid in full in the end, despite earlier reports that a complaint and claim for injuries and calumnies was filed against him in the courts in Madrid.

No, they didn't go into the whys and wherefores. It might constitute real news and we couldn't go dealing with any of that, now could we? :)

The secret has been revealed, translating directly from the headline at La Opinión, El secreto ha sido descubierto, with the story that also this week, the town hall in Santa Cruz announced - or, more precisely, the mayor of Santa Cruz' first lieutenant, Ángel Llanos (the man who brought us varying conflicting information about Elton John), did - a calendar of acts for Carnaval 2008 in Santa Cruz that hope to erase the bitter memory. You can tell that we're not sure, right?

These include Puerto Rican Latin pop singer Chayanne, Colombian singer Carlos Vives, Cuban hip-hop band Orishas and Xiomara Laugart, the New York based Cuban singer who has not only been called "the new Celia Cruz", but is playing the late Queen of Salsa on Broadway.

Billo's Caracas Boys, 21 Canarian orchestras, an English tribute act that recreates the "mythical" North American group, Village People and the current Canarian TV and fiesta circuit "turn", Pepe Benavente, are also in the lineup, which proves that you can't please everyone.

Not all comments I've read agree, but Sr. Llanos reckons this lot makes for "one of the best Latin music shows in the capital in the last 20 years."

For Carnaval 2008, the organizers are also looking to revitalize the Sábado de Piñata (the Saturday after Shrove Tuesday, which next year will fall on Saturday, February 9th), when there will be four live concerts happening simultaneously, they say, in the Plaza de España, Plaza de Europa, Plaza Weyler and the Calle La Noria, according to the reports.

These concerts are to have more than a million watts of illumination (at 12:00 midday?) and 120,000 watts of sound, "as well as the sort of big screens that are used at the concerts of U2, Robbie Williams and the Rolling Stones." No, those three acts are not coming and, don't ask us why so much name dropping was needed to make the point either!

What is really making me sarcastic and cynical is that, when asked how much the artists are costing, Llanos, apparently, replied "the same as last year," although he claims he couldn't remember how much that was.

For a start there are artists of different calibre; nothing is ever the same price as last year (try going into a supermarket) and to top it, Llanos, apart from being the mayor's right-hand man, is also the Councillor for Hacienda (TAX). Please ... in a former life, I was an accountant and believe me, people who work in that field, which includes tax, don't tend to forget what things cost. Not even when we want to! :)

Meanwhile, residents are beginning to grumble about the noise already and, what the Carnaval does not yet have is someone to build the scenery. The 500,000 euros on offer for that is not enough, apparently, for the "magical" design the organizers want. The rights to the TV coverage are not yet sold either and the horrible thought crosses one's mind that after last year's "spectacle", maybe nobody wants to buy them?

And, the Centro Canario (CCN) party is calling for Ángel Llanos to resign after (allegedly) telling porkie pies about the Elton John situation.

They say he never actually contracted the star and, well, it does rather look that way. Other reports reveal that it is private companies that have contracted John for the show on the south of the island in January (dead simple that one, simply by offering double the fee, apparently) and, that this means the loss of a golden opportunity for the capital. It does seem logical to suggest that the authorities in Santa Cruz would be unlikely to sign the artist in the future after such a muck up really.

There are serious doubts too over whether the Plaza de España will be ready by January, when Carnaval starts and, well, this is Tenerife.

Anything can happen in the next couple of months. We'll bring what news we can for those planning to attend the Carnaval in Santa Cruz, but the fact is, you might just have to turn up and expect a surprise! :)

Chayanne, Carlos Vives, Orishas y Xiomara, tratarán de borrar el mal recuerdo de Rafael Amargo | El Carnaval 2008 revitalizará un "gran sábado de piñata" para 100.000 personas de todas las edades

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Orishas in Tenerife

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Updated: see Tenerife Carnaval Dates 2008 - 2050

Labels: Carnaval 2008, Carnaval 2009

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Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe, is to be one of the panel of judges to select the Carnaval Queen in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, in next January's Carnaval Gala.

Meanwhile, David Copperfield - the American magician and illusionist, that is, not the David Copperfield that actor, Daniel Radcliffe, played in 1999 - will be providing the actual magic.

The theme of the 2008 Carnaval in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, in case it wasn't obvious by now is, "La Magia" (Magic) and, Santa Cruz seems to be very keen to put some of it back into Tenerife's Carnaval, by every means with this prestigious, all-magic cast for the most visible of Carnaval events, given that the spectacular Gala is televised, both nationally and internationally.

At the Gala for the Selection of the Carnaval Queen in Santa Cruz, on January 30th, 2008, Copperfield will make last year's outgoing Carnaval Queen, Elizabeth García, appear and disappear, costume included.

The 2008 Gala, which will be directed by Jaime Azpilicueta - who is also directing a musical on the life of Celia Cruz to open in New York in September - is to be held outside again, (as it used to be, previously, in the Plaza de España), this time in the car park of the Parque Marítimo which is alongside the Auditorio de Tenerife, rather than the Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos where it has been held in recent years.

An interview with the new Councillor for Fiestas in Santa Cruz, Maribel Oñate, gives the reason for the move outside again (they've been studying various sites on the port) as being that there was not enough time to organize it in the Recinto Ferial. Just my opinion here, but since there are still over 6 months to go and, I'm sure that Carnaval organization is very high on everybody's agendas year round, I wonder if the real reason might have been to make a clear contrast (if not total disassociation), with the venue that was the scene of last year's disastrous gala directed by Rafael Amargo.

So while Las Palmas in Gran Canaria will be going to Ancient Greece next year, the town hall in Santa Cruz has already started meetings with the murga groups. They are looking into the possibility (depending on the football fixture calendar) of holding the finals of their contest in the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium: home ground to CD Tenerife.

Santa Cruz town hall have also announced that they are planning a future Museo del Carnaval (Carnival Museum) in the city too.

Carnaval is early in 2008: Shrove Tuesday (Carnaval Tuesday), the day of the Main Carnaval Parade in Santa Cruz, will be February 5th, if you're planning to attend. We'll publish more carnival dates in due course.

David Copperfield, actuación estelar de la gala de la reina del próximo Carnaval

Labels: Carnaval 2008

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