Dive into the most entertaining and subversive side of Tenerife tourism just an hour from your luxury residence at Abama. Let yourself be carried away by an explosion of joy, color, vitality and energy at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival, a spectacle matched only by the one in Río de Janeiro. The Tenerife Carnival is the second-largest celebration of Carnival in the world after the famous Brazilian festivities.
Today, learn more about the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival and fall even further in love with this corner of the world. We’re sure your curiosity will inspire you to get out of your daily routine and take a day away from your luxury home on Tenerife. Imagine all the heat of Carnival in the middle of winter! At Abama, you can live it to the fullest.
1. The Carnival that never ends
Information about the famous celebration was first recorded in 1605, making the Tenerifans great experts in hustle, bustle, and how to have a good time. During the dictatorship of Franco, the festival was renamed the Winter Carnival to avoid censure, but the most provocative murgas and comparsas continued to be performed in secret.
2. A queen that carries the festival
The Carnival Queen is the hostess of all the official acts during the celebration. She represents the festivities and all their splendor and her coronation gala is a true spectacle of majestic handworked costumes that weigh kilos and kilos. If you’ll be in your luxury residence on Tenerife on the 19th of February, come to the Fairgrounds in Santa Cruz and see the selection and the coronation in person. It’s an unforgettable event.
3. A record that was never registered
In 1987, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival made it into the Guinness Book of World Records because the Cuban songstress Celia Cruz, accompanied by the Billo’s Caracas Boys orchestra, played to 250,000 people at an outdoor concert. But in 2019, according to local police data, more than 400,000 people danced to the rhythms of Juan Luis Guerra. But without a notary present, the record couldn’t be included in Guinness. So this year, come to one of the Carnival concerts and you might make the book of explosive Tenerife tourism!
4. Murgas: the height of passion!
Like attending the finals of a hotly contested football competition: that’s the only way to describe the level of excitement and concentrated passion surrounding the stages where the final competitions are carried out to determine the best murgas, comparsas, rondallas, and agrupaciones. Wherever you walk, you’ll find a stage and a spectacle, for the so-called “Carnaval chicharrero” is synonymous with great music. And get ready to listen to the incredible wordplay in songs that were created with a healthy dose of humor and critical bite. If you can’t understand some of the local expressions, at Abama Resort we can help you decipher them!
5. La canción de la risa (The Laughter Song)
If you haven’t laughed enough or you just want more, we recommend “La cancion de la risa”, an event that reconizes original songs and parodies in which humor is the defining characteristic. Groups of between 5 and 12 people participate, and the competition is fiercely original, both in the songs themselves and in the performances that accompany them.
6. The Flirty ‘50s
If you do decide to attend Carnival this year when you’re visiting your luxury residence on Tenerife, don’t be surprised to find that Santa Cruz de Tenerife has travelled back in time. This year, the Carnival theme is the “Flirty ‘50s”, so the streets and stages will be filled with girls with fake beautymarks, Pin-Up silhouettes, tube skirts, and big glasses. And among the men we’re sure to see plenty of leather gloves, biker jackets, and rolled-up white t-shirt sleeves.
7. A Carnival that ends twice
Ash Wednesday is the day the Carnival celebrations are supposed to end, accompanied by the burial of the sardine to usher in the beginning of Lent. But as with much Tenerife tourism, the urge to keep partying is so strong that the real finale happens on the Day of the Piñata, the Sunday after Ash Wednesday. From your luxury residence on Tenerife you can easily attend both events. The burial of the sardine is worth seeing because everyone comes out to the street in mourning gear to grieve over the end of the festivities. And the Piñata is the grand celebratory finale that features concerts until dawn. It's Tenerife culture at its wildest and most exciting!
