Carnaval (Marti Gras)

As Spain is traditionally (and currently) a Catholic country, the time before Lent, along with other religious holidays, is celebrated to a grand extent. What we call Marti Gras in the United States on Fat Tuesday is celebrated for 5 days of "Carnival" in Spain. The Spanish seem to always be either preparing for some sort of festival or are currently celebrating one. I love it. Two weeks of Christmas until January 6th is still my favorite, however. During Carnaval, its not uncommon to see people going out in costumes at night and children in costumes all day. I love the children's costumes!

                  My little buddy at the parade           Just creeping on kids on the street, usual

 The inauguration of the Carnival Season took place on Saturday, February 9th. My friends and I attended the parade and fireworks show for the kick-off. We knew that we wanted to see the fireworks show at the finale, so we purposely stood at the end of the parade route, which worked out perfectly. It was a really fun atmosphere because a LOT of people were in costume. Being clueless Americans, we did not even know what carnival was until the day before and did not dress up.  The parade was primarily for the children but there were people of all ages. I've noticed that festivals in the city are always very family-oriented. Spain in general is a family-oriented society. They don't plan their time down to every minute because they just enjoy life, take it easy, and spend time with their kids. I like it. 

When I went to the parade for the coming of the three kings "Los reyes magos" the parade consisted of giant floats and candy. This parade instead featured a lot of dancers in crazy costumes and typical carnival-type performances. Being, well, ME, I just absolutely loved every part of it. They had a lot of Bolivian dancers in their traditional dress which was really impressive, especially because they were still dancing away at the very end of the parade. It made me want to dance. One groupd danced to a song from one of my old jazz routines called "Magdalena." There were some floats as well. 

At the finale of the parade was a fireworks show on top of an old castle (later a post office, now a general government building). What made the fireworks show so spectacular, besides its location, was the coordination of music and fireworks. The fireworks went with the classical music that they were playing over the loudspeakers. Very technical, very impressive: probably my favorite fireworks show. I felt like a small child seeing fireworks over Cinderella's castle in Disney World, except this was a real castle and I'm learning that fairy-tales can be real life, though maybe without the glass slippers and fairy-godmothers.

In general, small children would be seen in costume all five days, as well as young adults heading out to bars and clubs at night. It made everything a light, fun mood. Most clubs embraced the carnival season, which makes things fun. I went Salsa Dancing that Sunday night, and a LOT of people were in very legit costumes. They even had a costume contest. Again, as an American I didn't realize this would be happening and did not dress up. You never want to be the one in a costume when no one else is, but when a lot of people are dressed up, you wish you were part of the fun too!

The only other carnival activity that I participated in was the final closing of carnival. In Spain they celebrate it differently than any other part of the world. On Ash Wednesday is "El entierro de la sardina" (the burial of the sardine). This is one of the more ridiculous aspects of the carnival season and is a lot less popular because it is very odd and very much for the elementary school kids. But I figured, why not?

It is a funeral parody that culminates in burning the symbolic figure of the sardine in a bonfire in Madrid, although in coastal cities they will bury the fish in the sand. The people solemnly parade the fake sardine through the streets of Madrid. They are "sad" because the parties, costumes, and games must come to an end...and also because the sardine is dead, of course. The fish represents the excesses of the festival (lots of drinking for example), which is why it is burned. 

              

"Men and women dress up in black period costume clothes, with men sometimes daring to dress up as weeping widows. Women do cover their heads with the traditional black Spanish lace veil. The procession is headed by someone pretending to be a public prosecutor, and whose role consists of clearing the streets ahead of the procession to allow the passing of the carnival carriage. He is followed by a fake priest, the priest's young assistant and the people in charge of driving the funeral carriage. The wooden carriage is adorned with palms, flowers and other offerings with the sardine resting in its interior, as if it were its hearse. The widows follow, confessing their “sins” to the false priest and lamenting the death of the sardine with fake screams and weeping. Someone dressed up as the Devil tries to prevent the passage of the sardine by trying to abduct it, but a supposed group of policemen scare the devil away and maintain order among the procession attendees. When the sardine's carriage reaches its destination, the people's collective euphoria intensifies."

They asked for a picture, so I took one myself too...

No one is really sure why it is a sardine. And even to Spaniards its just a fun, ridiculous tradition. From 1812-1819, the famous Spanish painter Goya painted about this festival in one of his famous works:

"Entierro de la sardina" - Goya

If I'm ever back in Spain for Carnaval, I would LOVE to travel to Cadiz, where the festivities are supposedly insane. People celebrate on the streets of this southern coastal Spanish town from 5pm till 7am the next day, or at least that is what a friend of mine told me who went this year. I have heard however that Brazil is THE place to go for Carnival celebrations as a few Brazilians I have met say that Spain doesn't even compare. Maybe one day.