Festivals & traditions
Carnivals island by island, from Santa Cruz and Las Palmas to Valverde, pilgrimages and patron saint festivals such as Candelaria and El Pino, Los Finaos, the San Andrés boards and a Canarian Christmas.
Las Tablas de San Andrés in Icod: what slides down that street is not what you think
You have seen the photo. A steep street in Icod de los Vinos, wet November cobbles, and someone hurtling down face first on a wooden board. It usually arrives without any explanation, as if it were a prank that stuck. It is not. What you are looking at is the top layer.
Los Finaos: chestnuts and remembrance in the Canary Islands
On the last night of October, Canarian villages roast chestnuts, and it has nothing to do with pumpkins. Here is what the Finaos is, why chestnuts, where the sources disagree and what is open over the three-day weekend in 2026, from 31 October to 2 November.
Carnival in the Canary Islands: where, when, and which one to choose
Carnival in the Canaries isn't a week, it's a season. It starts in the capitals in late January and ends in the southern resorts in March. Eleven towns in one place: when each one usually holds it, what sets it apart, and how to catch the one for you.
Carnival of Valverde: El Hierro's capital, where the residents build the parade
In Valverde, the residents carry the carnival parade: costumes, floats, decorated cars, and a separate prize for each of them. When El Hierro's capital holds its carnival, what happens on the Friday, the Saturday and the closing day, and how the theme is chosen.
Carnival of San Sebastián de La Gomera: talcum, indigo blue powder and a herring beside the sardine
In San Sebastián de La Gomera, one carnival evening belongs to talcum powder and indigo blue powder, and the sardine is buried in the bay together with a herring. When it usually is, why it has no fixed date, and what happens each day around the Plaza de Las Américas.
Carnival of Puerto del Rosario: Arretrankos, Achipencos and a sardine that is born here too
In Puerto del Rosario, the carnival sardine doesn't just die, it's born here too, and out in the bay the contraptions of the Achipencos regatta compete. When the carnival of Fuerteventura's capital usually happens, and what happens on each day.
Carnival of Arrecife: the sailors of Los Buches, inflated fish stomachs and a sardine on Ash Wednesday
In Arrecife, the big parade is opened by a sailors' parranda in costumes designed by César Manrique, carrying inflated fish stomachs. The carnival lasts about two weeks and ends exactly on Ash Wednesday with the sardine. When it usually is, who Los Buches are, and what not to miss.
Carnival of Santa Cruz de La Palma and Los Indianos: white clothes, talcum powder and a day in Havana
On Carnival Monday, Santa Cruz de La Palma dresses in white, the Plaza de España becomes the Plaza de La Habana for a day, and the air fills with talcum powder. What Los Indianos day celebrates, when it usually is, and what comes before and after it.
Carnival of Maspalomas: a sardine on the beach, a gala for tourists and the season's last parade
In Maspalomas a dying sardine is carried along the beach, and tourists join the procession by the thousand, dressed as doctors and nurses. The carnival is in March, when it's already over in the capitals. When it usually is, what happens in the last week, and what to watch out for.