Of all the crazy Spanish fiestas that take place throughout the year there are few whackier than the Carnival celebrations this week.
Dress up and party!!
The week leading up to Lent is a time for wild partying in when the country plays host to Europe’s biggest and best Carnival festivals.
There are a few speculations on the origins of Carnival in Spain. Most popularly it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words “farewell to the flesh,” a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent. Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats, called the ‘carrus navalis’. With these pagan roots it’s easy to see why the dictator General Franco banned them for forty years!
Click the photos below for full details of Carnivals in Javea, Denia, Gata and Moraira
Here are a few of the local choices:-
