Santa Cruz Carnival

Santa Cruz holds a carnival that is routinely described as second only to Rio in scale, and it is twinned with it formally. It runs for about two weeks around Lent, with a competitive programme of murgas, satirical singing groups whose lyrics attack local politics, comparsas dancing in Brazilian-influenced costume, and rondallas, alongside the election of the carnival queen in a televised gala where the costumes weigh well over a hundred kilos and are moved on hidden wheels. The street phase, the carnaval de la calle, fills the city with hundreds of thousands of people in costume for several nights. The entierro de la sardina, a mock funeral for a giant papier-mache sardine that is burned, closes the main week.

What you actually see

• The queen gala - costumes over a hundred kilos moved on hidden wheels.
• The murgas - satirical singing groups competing with political lyrics.
• The street nights - hundreds of thousands in costume across the city.
• The sardine burial - a mock funeral ending in a burning papier-mache fish.

When to go

February into early March, moving with Lent; the programme is published in advance. Accommodation across Tenerife books out and prices rise sharply. Street nights run very late.

Honest expectations

The city is extremely crowded on street nights and public transport runs at capacity through the small hours. Gala tickets sell out months ahead. Costume is close to compulsory on the main nights, and going without stands out.

Nearby

La Laguna holds its own carnival alongside; the Anaga massif rises behind the city.