Carnival of Los Realejos: Señor Rascayú, the Monday Coso and a day in the carnival capital of the north
At around seven on a Sunday evening in Los Realejos, a funeral procession sets off back towards the Plaza de San Agustín. The widows are escorting Señor Rascayú, the wooden-bodied figure who has been the town's symbol throughout carnival. He is burned near the square, and that's the end of carnival.
He got his name from a song that was sung while the figure was carried around: "Rascayú, cuando muera, ¿qué harás tú?" The name has stuck to him ever since.
The Los Realejos carnival peaks in the same week as Santa Cruz's, and it has one day when, in the mayor's words, the town becomes "the carnival capital of the north of the island". That day is Carnival Monday.
When it usually happens
The carnival lasts about two weeks and peaks in the week around Ash Wednesday. The pattern, from the programmes of recent years:
On the Friday and Saturday before Carnival Sunday come the galas on the Plaza de San Agustín: the election of the Queen on Friday, the children's royal court on Saturday.
On Carnival Sunday, the children's Coso, the Carnaval de Día, a costume contest and a showcase of the local murgas, the carnival's satirical singing groups.
On Carnival Monday, the Coso Apoteosis, the big parade.
On Tuesday, the Vermú de Carnaval and the vintage car parade.
On Ash Wednesday, the older people's carnival party and the drag queen gala.
On the following Sunday, the Domingo de Piñata, the burning of Señor Rascayú.
What this looks like in practice: in 2024 the carnival ran from 4 to 18 February, with the galas on the 9th and 10th, the Carnaval de Día on the 11th and the Coso on Monday the 12th. In 2026 it ran from 6 to 22 February, the Coso was on Monday the 16th, and Rascayú was burned on Sunday the 22nd.
In 2025 a late Easter meant the carnival ran from 23 February to 9 March, and the weather had its say too. The Coso was planned for 3 March, Carnival Monday, but it was postponed because of warnings of heavy rain, and was held on Sunday 9 March, on the same day as the burning of Rascayú.
Ash Wednesday depends on Easter, so carnival moves from year to year. The exact programme is published by the town. As soon as it's out, we add it to our agenda.
The Monday Coso
Carnival Monday is the big day. As usual, the Coso Apoteosis sets off from Tigaiga (at five in the afternoon in 2026), passes through Realejo Bajo and finishes at San Agustín. Afterwards there's a carnival dance on the Plaza de San Agustín.
Señor Rascayú
The figure has been made every year since 1984 by Domingo González. His body is made of wood, and his clothes always follow that year's carnival theme: in 2025, the year of "Carnaval Animado", for example, he was dressed as Popeye.
Rascayú used to be burned on Ash Wednesday. From 2020, the carnival's joint committee (Comisión Mixta) moved it to the Domingo de Piñata, the Sunday after Ash Wednesday.
How the farewell goes: the widows' funeral procession goes to La Carrera to collect Rascayú, sets off back from there at around seven in the evening to near the Plaza de San Agustín, and there the figure is burned.
What else is its own
The vintage cars on Tuesday. The vintage car parade of the La Orotava valley (Paseo de Coches Antiguos del Valle de La Orotava) has toured the valley's three towns every carnival since the seventies. A tradition more than half a century old.
On the afternoon of Ash Wednesday the older people's carnival party starts on the Plaza de San Agustín, and in the evening comes the drag queen gala.
Local faces. For more than a decade, every year a local carnival-goer who has been an active participant in the fiesta has been both the carnival's herald (pregonero) and the face on the poster.
A different theme every year
The theme, the star of the poster and the herald are chosen by the carnival's joint committee. In 2024 the theme was "Un Carnaval de miedo" (a scary carnival), in 2025 "Carnaval Animado", in 2026 Mexico.
Practical information
The main venue is the Plaza de San Agustín: the galas and dances are held here, and Rascayú is burned nearby. The youth zone is around the Calle de La Virgen.
Exhibition. In 2025 an exhibition called "70 años de Carnaval" opened during the carnival.
The weather can get in the way. In 2025 it meant the Coso was held almost a week later. Our advice: if you're coming for the parade, check the town's latest announcements beforehand.
If you'd like to see it together with Santa Cruz
In a typical year the two carnivals are in the same week: the big parade is on Monday in Los Realejos and on Tuesday in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, so they fall on two consecutive days. We've written about the Santa Cruz carnival here: Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Celia Cruz, two hundred thousand dancers and a Tuesday parade along the seafront. And you'll find the calendar of every Canary carnival here: Carnival in the Canary Islands: where, when, and which one to choose.
If you'd like to explore the island as well as the carnival: What to See in Tenerife: The Essential Sights.
Cover photo: the church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción and its square in Realejo Alto (not a carnival photo), 2026, Mentxuwiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sources: Los Realejos town hall, the 2026 carnival · Los Realejos town hall, the 2026 Coso · Los Realejos town hall, the maker of Rascayú · Los Realejos town hall, the 2025 postponement · Diario de Avisos on the history of Rascayú
