The story
Santa Cruz Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
One of the world's largest carnival celebrations, running five to six weeks in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with elaborate Carnival Queen costume competitions, the massive Coso street parade, and the surreal closing Burial of the Sardine mock funeral. Latin American influences give it a distinctly Caribbean-inflected energy compared with mainland Spanish carnivals.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife's carnival runs for roughly five to six weeks from mid-January into late February, widely described as one of the largest carnival celebrations in the world alongside Rio de Janeiro's, built around comparsas dance troupes, murgas satirical singing groups, and rondallas string ensembles competing in a packed program of parades and contests.