Carnival is besotted with the sun and sand of Gran Canaria! And it's in Las Palmas and Maspalomas.
The preparations for the carnival run for months every year. Floats are decorated, costumes are tailored, masks and disguises are made.
Every place has its Murgas, groups of disguised jesters who parade through the streets during the parades, dancing and making noise. The party usually lasts all night.
The election of the Carnival Queen (Reina del Carnaval) is broadcast live on television throughout Spain, and the aspirants' costumes often cost as much as a mid-range car.
Every carnival day ends with the Mogollón - the revelers often dance to Latino rhythms until the early hours of the morning.
The grand finale of the carnival is the Entierro de la Sardina - the burial of the sardine. There is another procession with a black-veiled, screaming mourners, accompanied by a huge cardboard sardine. Finally, it explodes in a firework of arcs, rockets and firecrackers.
You have to come see it!
Norberto Moreau suggests
