Spain goes carnival crazy: A parade where you, too, can join in

IF YOU’RE walking down the street tonight and are greeted by a Telly Tubbie, Mickey Mouse or C3PO in a voice that sounds uncannily like that of one of your friends, don’t fret – you’re not hallucinating. In fact, it’s probably a good reminder to rush home and dig out that purple wig and glittery onesie you wore for the fancy dress party you were coerced into dragging yourself along to about eight years ago.

It’s Carnival night, and Spain is rocking in psychedelic colours. Music on street corners, open-air bars and anything goes, outfit-wise, except your ordinary day clothes. In fact, the crazier the better. You don’t stand a chance of looking daft and being pointed and laughed at – unless you’re wearing jeans or any shade of garment that couldn’t be seen in the dark from 100 metres away.

Those who haven’t been in Spain at around the start of Lent may be forgiven for believing that the Carnival, outside Brazil, only happens in the Canary Islands and Cádiz. It’s true these are the biggest and best-organised – being crowned Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which has already been celebrating since February 15 and will carry on doing so until March 10, is akin to being picked to represent Spain in the Eurovision, winning Miss España or, if you’re familiar with the huge Fallas festival in Valencia (more on that in a couple of weeks’ time), Fallera Mayor of the city. This year’s Carnival Queen is Priscila Medina (first picture).

Organised parades in elaborate costumes costing thousands of euros, a full-time job during the celebratory month and a busy schedule the rest of the year, top bands, market stalls, open-air buffets and the Grand Gala – which was last night – make the Carnivals in Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Cádiz the biggest and best in Spain, in that order, and probably the biggest outside of Brazil, to rival Venice.

But elsewhere in the country, more informal versions range from dressing-up competitions and face-painting for kids at local schools through to giant street parties open to anyone are all happening tonight.

Some, such as the Carnival in Gandia (Valencia province) will coincide with the Piñata, a more low-key celebration with fireworks and torchlight parades, next Saturday, but the majority will be on tonight – and if you live or are staying slap-bang in the middle of a popular Carnival venue, don’t bother about sleep tonight. You won’t be able to hear yourself counting sheep so, as you can’t beat them, you may as well join them and put off any shut-eye until Sunday.

Live discos or bands and bars are on every street corner and everyone dons the weirdest gear they can find in their local Chinese bazaar, often with entire groups following the same theme – or none at all, but sporting the same silly outfits. Some towns hold contests for best costume, followed by a parade which even those who don’t bother to enter the competition can just turn up in daft attire and join in with; most of these will start tonight at around 17.00 and are usually free of charge to enter; you just put your name down at the start.

Not all towns run competitions, so they’ll just advertise the time and date of the start of the parade and you can either get there in time for the off, or just blend in with the crowd midway through.

Other towns limit their Carnival activities to children, meaning theirs will probably have happened already in most cases as they tend to be on a school night, or even in the afternoon as part of class activities. But as long as you don’t mind the taxi fare, or aren’t bothered about drinking and opt to take the car instead, you’ll find a Carnival happening in a town near you, without fail.

If you’re in the provinces of Alicante or Valencia, the most flamboyant and fun of all tonight’s Carnivals is in Pego (second and third pictures), roughly on the border between the two. Until recently, it was the only Carnival in the area at all, and busloads of revellers would turn up from Valencia or even Madrid, but copycat acts have been sprouting across both provinces and, whilst Pego remains the Queen of Partyhood on the Saturday night before the start of Lent, residents in other towns now have the option not to bother travelling.

You’ve still time to get to Pego for the Carnival tonight, wherever you are in mainland Spain: the music doesn’t even start until 23.00, and the bands Jaula Party and Cachondeo Party will be on stage until 03.30 on Sunday morning, whilst La Límite on Stage Two won’t be planning to stop until 06.30. Which means even if you’re coming from Galicia by road, you’ll still reach Pego in time for at least four hours of dancing al fresco.

Like in Brazil and Venice, the Carnival in Spain was traditionally a time for the final excesses before giving up everything fun for Lent, the six-week period before Easter to mark Jesus’ 42-day fast in the desert ahead of his crucifixion. Nowadays, few people give anything up for Lent, although some still use it as a helpful tool to stop themselves smoking, drinking too much, or to stick to a diet, since it gives them structure.

For those who do observe the Lent period – Cuaresma in Spanish – it’s a similar concept to the Muslim festival of Ramadan: long fasts between feasts to create a conscience among followers of how the world’s poorest, who have nothing to eat, feel all the time. Ramadan especially, but sometimes Easter, too, involve collections of food or cash for those in poverty either at home or worldwide.