Carnaval de Tenerife
If you want a warm-weather carnival in February, this is the one. Pair it with a week on Tenerife's beaches.
For the second-biggest carnival in the world, in winter, in a city built for it.
At a Glance
- — You dislike noise and crowds
- — You're not in Tenerife in February
The Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife is, by attendance and intensity, the second-largest carnival in the world after Rio de Janeiro, and easily Spain's biggest party outside of summer. Over two weeks in February, Santa Cruz fills with comparsas (samba-style dance troupes), murgas (satirical musical groups), a Carnival Queen contest with costumes weighing tens of kilos, and all-night street dancing to Latin and Caribbean rhythms. The closing enterrillo de la sardina — burying the sardine — ends it. The climate helps: it's warm enough at midnight to be outside in costume. UNESCO-listed.
How it got here
Santa Cruz developed as a port town for the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna during the sixteenth century. It grew in importance through maritime trade across the Atlantic and eventually supplanted the older capital as the administrative center of Tenerife. The tradition of public carnival celebrations here draws from syncretic influences brought by Atlantic sailors and settlers over centuries. These gatherings moved through phases of official prohibition and public defiance, ultimately hardening into the present cycle of performances. The festival functions as a bridge between the maritime culture of the port and the social history of the island population.
Where it sits
The city occupies a narrow coastal strip wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the steep slopes of the Anaga mountains. Access relies on the port and the airport at the northern end of the island. Tropical trade winds provide a temperate climate that stays mild through the middle of winter. The urban grid faces the harbor and climbs rapidly into the hills, forcing most public life into the streets and squares. During the February festivities, the density of the population intensifies and human presence overwhelms the available public space as the streets effectively turn into dance floors.
What to eat and drink
Papas arrugadas, small waxy potatoes boiled in seawater until wrinkled and served with picon mojo, a sharp sauce of garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and red pepper, provide the standard local fare. Fresh fish caught in the surrounding waters often appears as vieja, a parrotfish pan-seared or steamed. Gofio, a toasted flour made from roasted cereals that dates back to the indigenous Guanche inhabitants, thickens soups or arrives as a kneaded dough. Local white wines from the volcanic soils of the northern slopes pair with these salty plates, cutting through the heat of the peppers.
Canary Islands: the whole region
Eight islands, four of them worth a trip and each one a different landscape: Tenerife with the highest mountain in Spain, Gran Canaria with its green interior and dunes, Lanzarote with lava fields and a landscape designed around them, and…
Minimum 7 days · better 10-12 days · deep 2 weeks
In Canary Islands
In Canary Islands
Experiences worth booking ahead
- 3-hour Whale and Dolphin Watching and Listening Tour4.9 (947)3 hrsFrom €36
- Tenerife Whale and Dolphin Watching and Swim Stop4.8 (810)2 hrsFrom €28
- Tenerife: Whale & Dolphin Watching Cruise & Swim, Los Cristianos4.7 (359)1.8 hrsFrom €25
- Tenerife Ecoyacht Tour for Whale Watching4.6 (1,747)1.8 hrsFrom €30
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