Carnival of Puerto del Rosario: Arretrankos, Achipencos and a sardine that is born here too
Sunday, half past eleven in the morning, the bay of Puerto del Rosario. This is when the achipencos are checked, entered and put in position, and at one o'clock the regatta starts. The name is an acronym, with a whole sentence behind it: Artilugio Carnavalero Hidrodinámico Impulsado por Energía No Contaminante, Obviamente. In English, roughly: a hydrodynamic carnival contraption powered by non-polluting energy, obviously.
The idea comes from the carnival group "Así Andamos", and in 2026 the regatta was held for the twenty-sixth time. The town hall counts the Achipencos, together with the Arretrankos race, among the events that "identify us", and the regatta is also backed by the tourism board (Patronato de Turismo).
This is the carnival of Fuerteventura's capital, and it has one feature worth knowing in advance: its best days come after Ash Wednesday.
When it usually happens
The Puerto del Rosario carnival lasts a good two and a half weeks and runs past Ash Wednesday. The big parade, the Gran Cabalgata, is on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday, and the next day, Sunday, the burial of the sardine (Entierro de la Sardina) and the drag gala bring the whole thing to a close.
Based on the 2026 programme, it's structured like this:
On the first Friday the sardine is born (Nacimiento de la Sardina), and the opening speech, the pregón, is given.
On the first Saturday, the Arretrankos race.
On weekdays the carnival also goes out to the town's neighbourhoods and villages.
On the middle weekend, the island-wide meeting and contest of murgas, the carnival's satirical singing groups, and on Sunday the Achipencos and the daytime carnival (Carnaval de Día).
In the second week, the galas, and on the Friday after Ash Wednesday the Sambódromo.
On Saturday, the Gran Cabalgata, on Sunday the burial of the sardine and the Gran Gala Drag.
What this looks like in practice: in 2025 the programme ran from 22 February to 9 March, Ash Wednesday fell on 5 March, the big parade (then called the Gran Coso Carnavalero) was on 8 March, and the sardine was buried on the 9th. In 2026 it ran from 6 to 22 February: Ash Wednesday fell on the 18th, the Gran Cabalgata on the 21st, and the sardine and the drag gala on the 22nd.
For 2027 the theme is already set (see below), but the town hasn't announced a date yet. That year Ash Wednesday is 10 February. The exact programme is published by the town hall; in 2026 it presented it at the end of January. As soon as it's out, we add it to our agenda.
Arretrankos: the first Saturday
In the 2026 programme it started at noon, in three stages: twice on Calle León y Castillo (first level with Calle María Estrada, then level with the Plaza de Rafael Páez), and the third time on Calle Teófilo Martínez Escobar, the market hill (cuesta del mercado). The finish was the port authority car park, with a prize-giving and a street party.
Exactly what they race in, our sources don't describe, so we won't guess either. What the town says about it: it's "one of the most distinctive and most participatory" events of the capital's carnival. In 2026 it also published separate rules for the people and groups who wanted to take part.
Galas, murgas, Sambódromo
The galas fall in the second week. In 2026 the adult Queen gala was on Monday, the children's on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the gala of the Gran Dama, which is also a celebration of older people. Before that, on the middle weekend, comes the island murga contest (Concurso Insular de Murgas): the island's murgas compete against each other in the capital, with the children's murgas at a separate meeting.
On the Friday after Ash Wednesday comes the Sambódromo da Ilha: batucadas and comparsas parade to the Recinto Ferial, where they also perform.
The big parade and the close
In 2026 the Gran Cabalgata gathered at six in the evening on Calle Barquillo, and reached the Recinto Ferial via Almirante Lallermand, Ruperto González Negrín, Avenida Reyes de España, Calle Duero and Calle Secundino Alonso, where a big street party followed.
The next day the sardine is buried, in 2026 at six in the evening, on the Plaza de la Paz. According to the 2025 programme, all the carnival's groups and the public take part. After that, in 2026 at eight in the evening, comes the Gran Gala Drag at the Recinto Ferial, and that's the end. So here the sardine is born on the first Friday and buried on the carnival's last day.
A different theme every year
The carnival gets a theme every year. In 2025 it was the world of toys and animated characters, in 2026 the world of musicals. The 2027 theme was voted for by residents on the town hall website: it's the "Reino del Invierno", the Kingdom of Winter, with 48 per cent of the votes, and the result was announced at the drag gala.
Practical information
The Recinto Ferial is the carnival's main venue: the galas and the street parties are held here, and the parades finish here.
The venues can change from year to year. In 2025 the Sambódromo set off from the Plaza Rafael Páez, in 2026 from the Plaza de la Paz. The daytime carnival was on Playa de Los Pozos in 2025 and on Avenida Marítima in 2026. Check the current ones in the programme.
A tip from us, not from the town: if you only have one weekend, the Saturday and Sunday after Ash Wednesday bring you the big parade, the burial of the sardine and the drag gala all at once.
If you'd like to explore the island as well as the carnival: What to See in Fuerteventura: The Essential Sights. And you'll find the calendar of every Canary carnival here: Carnival in the Canary Islands: where, when, and which one to choose.
Cover photo: Puerto del Rosario from the harbour at dawn (not a carnival photo), 2008, Gerd Fahrenhorst, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sources: Puerto del Rosario town hall, presentation of the 2026 programme · The 2025 programme · The 2027 theme · Canarias7, the full 2026 programme with routes