Carnival of Puerto de la Cruz: a high-heel race, German friends and a sardine at the harbour
Friday, ten o'clock at night, outside the San Telmo chapel. Men stand at the start line, in costume and in high heels whose heels were measured beforehand. Ahead of them lie roughly six hundred metres to the Plaza del Charco. This is the Mascarita Ponte Tacón, the men's high-heel race, and if you only want to see one thing at the Puerto de la Cruz carnival, make it this.
But the party goes on for much longer than that. It lasts about three weeks, and it has one feature that sets it apart from Santa Cruz de Tenerife: its best days come after Ash Wednesday.
When it usually happens
Puerto de la Cruz follows the traditional carnival calendar, but runs past it. The pattern, from the programmes of recent years:
In the weeks before Ash Wednesday come the galas: the election of the Queen and the Gran Dama, the King's gala and the children's gala.
On Carnival Monday, following an old custom, they "kill the snake" (Matar la Culebra), and on the same day murgas, the carnival's satirical singing groups, perform in six streets and squares of the old town (Entrecalles).
On Carnival Tuesday, the Rally del Valle, the vintage car parade.
On the evening of Ash Wednesday, the burial of the sardine (Entierro de la Sardina).
On the Friday after, the Mascarita Ponte Tacón.
On Saturday, the Gran Coso, the big parade.
What this looks like in practice: in 2024 the sardine was buried on 14 February, the high-heel race was on the 16th and the Coso on the 17th. In 2026 the same three fell on 18, 20 and 21 February. In 2025 a late Easter pushed everything into early March.
Ash Wednesday depends on Easter, so carnival moves from year to year. The exact programme is published by the town. It announced the main dates for 2026, for example, back in September 2025. As soon as it's out, we add it to our agenda.
The Mascarita Ponte Tacón
The high-heel marathon is the carnival's best-known event, and in 2026 it was held for the thirty-sixth time. The way it runs is almost a ritual:
registration and heel measuring at about eight in the evening on the Plaza de los Reyes Católicos,
the start at ten, at the San Telmo chapel,
the finish at the Plaza del Charco, roughly six hundred metres away,
the prize-giving at around midnight.
The first winner was a character called Lupita, in the early 1990s. If you're going to watch, get there early: the race is short, and it's over in a few minutes.
The burial of the sardine
On the evening of Ash Wednesday, the carnival's "funeral procession" sets off from Avenida Colón to the fishing harbour. There, fireworks round it off and the sardine is burned. The ceremony is a mock funeral: a send-off for carnival's excess before Lent.
What makes it international
Puerto de la Cruz is officially a Carnaval Internacional, and that's not just marketing. The town has run an exchange with Düsseldorf and other German cities for more than fifty years. The 2025 programme featured delegations from Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Mönchengladbach, Erkelenz, Eschborn, Vechta and Bonn, who are formally welcomed on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday.
A different theme every year
Each year the carnival picks a theme, and the costumes, the set and the poster all follow it. In 2024 it was Eurovision, in 2025 the world of Tim Burton, in 2026 Mexico.
Practical information
The galas take place on the carnival stage set up on the harbour square (Recinto del Carnaval, Explanada del Muelle). According to the official programme, entry is free while there's room.
The night-time dances are on the Plaza del Charco. In 2026 there was also a second stage, with DJs, on the Plaza del Escultor Ángel Acosta.
The Coso route can change from year to year. In 2026, for instance, it was altered because of building works. Check the current one in the programme.
The announced date can move, too. In 2025 the big parade was held a week later, on 15 March.
There's a summer carnival too. At the end of August comes the Carnaval de Verano, on a smaller scale.
How to pair it with Santa Cruz
In a typical year, Santa Cruz de Tenerife holds its big parade on Carnival Tuesday, and Puerto de la Cruz holds the high-heel race and the Coso on the following Friday and Saturday. The drive between the two towns takes about three quarters of an hour, so both fit into one week.
Sometimes that rhythm is thrown off: Santa Cruz has moved its street carnival two weeks later for 2027. We've written about that separately: Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2027: when it happens, what is on each day, and what it all means. 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 town as well as the carnival: What to see in Puerto de la Cruz.
Cover photo: dancers in the Puerto de la Cruz Coso, 2008, Pamela Heywood, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sources: Puerto de la Cruz town hall, Carnaval Internacional · The 2026 carnival programme · How the Mascarita Ponte Tacón runs · Diario de Avisos on the German connection
