Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival 2025 in Canary Islands

Every year, tens of thousands of people become a part of this spectacular fiesta. The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival is the most “Brazilian” of all the Spanish carnivals. The whole carnival takes place over an entire month. During the main week of the celebration, shops and banks work only in restricted hours and many businesses also close for carnival Tuesday, which is an official public holiday. For fifteen days, the streets of the city burst with joy, beauty, colour, freedom, and extravagance. Every year the carnival chooses a theme which is selected by public voting.

The Carnival starts with the election of the queen. During this competition, the audience and the jury observe the stunning beauty of the costumes, specially designed for the Carnival. Charming girls sometimes wear costumes which may even weigh up to a hundred kilograms. There are also lots of other dancing and singing competitions. Be ready though for tickets often sell out very quickly.

Grand Parade (February 13, 2024)

If you don't have a ticket for the competitions, just visit ‘Cabalgata’ or the Grand Parade. This huge open-air Carnival party has lots to offer—Latin music, salsa dancing, and charming, colorful costumes all around. If you’ve come unprepared, there are plenty of stands that sell masks, wigs, and costumes. The Tenerife Carnival ends with the Burial of the Sardine. A thirty-foot papier-mache fish is taken through the streets of Santa Cruz to the coast where it is burned. Magnificent fireworks​ close up all of the celebrations.