Only Rio De Janeiro beats this Carnival

When people think of Tenerife they usually imagine beaches and have dreams of settling in one of the many apartments in Tenerife. But they wouldn't imagine that it has one of the biggest carnivals in the world. February plays host to one of the biggest carnival's in the world, no it isn't the Rio de Janeiro carnival although it does have related ties to it. It is the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Some would say that you haven't really experienced or seen the real Tenerife if you haven’t been to the carnival.

It isn't as popular as the Rio de Janeiro carnival but it is related to it as Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Rio de Janeiro are twinned cities so they draw influences from each other from time to time. In 1980 it was given the status of Festival Tourist International Interest by the Secretariat of State for the Tourism, which settles it as one of the most important carnivals in the world. Although now they want to cement that status by hoping that UNESCO enables it to become a World Heritage site. This would not only promote the carnival more internationally but the Tenerife as news would travel through the five continents, also adding to the fact that it would be the first carnival in Spain to get this accomplishment.

The people that take part of the carnival take it very seriously to the extent that some people take time off or cut back hours from work. As with most carnivals all over the world this carnival is tied to religion, which is why it is situated around February as it is situated around Easter more particularly Ash Wednesday. So you could easily work out when the Carnival is going to happen the next year and so forth. The Carnival spans three weeks and you will see people dressed in extravagant costumes and see some amazing floats.

Over the course there are various events held to celebrate the occasion. One of the first is the nominations for the queen of the carnival which there is an adult and child category which both have sub categories, this happens a few weeks before the Wednesday when the election happens. On election day the event is broadcast to all apartments in Tenerife. The Friday is the announcement parade day when all carnival groups that are involved travel through he city and announce the arrival of the carnival, each with a queen and her bridesmaids on their floats this go on deep into the night up to midnight.

This when the carnival begins, The Plaza de la Candelaria and the Plaza del Principe are transformed into dedicated dance spots. These are hubs but the streets that are connected to them still have bars and streets with cars that blare out their own music. One of the main streets is the Bethencourt Afonso but it is more popularly known as San Jose.

On he Monday is the Big Day of the feast. This is a popular day as for a few years now as some well known DJ's have turned up to perform on this day such big names as Armand Van Helden. Tuesday is the final days and marks the end of the carnival officially. This is the day when the carnival groups, floats, decorated cars and Queens of Carnival parade the city for one last time mainly in the afternoon as this when tourists arrive for Ash Wednesday which is the following day.


Vacation rentals from around the world, direct from the owner at vacationrentalpeople.com.

Try one of the amazing apartments in Tenerife available at VacationRentalPeople.com.