Carnaval de Nerja 2020

Our stay in Nerja has nicely coincided with the annual Carnaval (carnival). After seeing how the Spanish like to party at the Moors and Christians celebrations in Mojacar a few years back, we made sure we had our programmes at the ready, and headed into town for the main events.

According to Wikipedia ‘Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.‘ Back home in the UK we tend to mark the start of Lent with Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day). I can still remember everyone from our primary school being taken to a street in our village where each class would race down the street, every child clinging onto a frying pan, trying to flip a pancake mid-run and hoping desperately that they won’t drop the pancake or fall over. Then it’s pancakes for tea – the real highlight of the day. Things are on a slightly bigger scale here.

Carnaval, like many of the towns events, finds its religious background somewhat eclipsed by the natural Spanish love of a good fiesta, or in this case a four-day long party. The opening night took place in the local cultural centre and we’d been pre-warned that it would be an opening speech and some shows all in Spanish, so we chose to let the locals enjoy their fun and saved ourselves for what was to come.

Eleccion de Ninfa Y Momo

Friday was the judging of the competitions for best fancy dress in the various categories for both adults and children, and there was some serious money to be won. A marquee set up in front of the church included a stage with a catwalk so we could see them in all their splendour. Knowing we’d get to see all the costumes in the parade the following day, we arrived in time for the Eleccion de Ninfa, (choosing the carnival nymph). There were only two ladies competing for the position, each accompanied by their own set of dancers. Both teams performed a dance routine, the Ninfa’s costumes so big they were on a wheeled trolley pulled around behind them. Health and safety folks stood by the side of the catwalk nudging the trolley wheels back towards the centre so they didn’t fall off the stage.

The elaborateness of the costumes was rightly matched by the size of the prize money. The winning Ninfa collecting €1,200 and second place €1,000. There was an €800 prize for third place, so maybe we only saw the best two entries fighting it out for the top spot – if not, and the third place is going spare, it’s worth grabbing some feathers and having a go next year!

After those costumes we expected big things from the Festival Drag Queen, which is apparently a tradition although I have no idea how long it’s been one. However, instead of feathers and sequins a la ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’, we were somewhat shocked to see a rather large chap dressed in black with two flamenco dancers. The locals seemed to enjoy it, and once we got over the surreal sight of him dancing around in front of the church’s depiction of Mary and Jesus, it was clear you needed to understand the language to get it, so we called it a night.

Gran Desfile de Carnaval de Nerja

Saturday was the day of the main procession. We met up with our friends Cynthia and Stuart from Flipflopsandwoollyhats.com and had a bite to eat in town before finding a spot by the side of the street close to the start of the procession. We’re pretty sure the procession was late getting started, as costumed characters wandered past heading towards the starting place way after the show should have got on the road (they’re a little more relaxed about time-keeping than us uptight anglo-saxons!). Luckily we’d found a spot in the sunshine and watched as the crowds gathered, but the time the parade arrived it was several deep along the roadside.

The parade was made up of the fancy dress costumes from the night before, plus the group costumes, who were also competing for cash prizes. For a group of up to 20 people the first prize was €1,500, but you can see it’s not just about the money. Folks have spent way more than that in cash, not to mention all the time taken, to create the colourful outfits on display.

All ages took part, but for some it was all just a bit too much…

After the Carnaval Ninfas had gone past, perched on a trailer towed behind a tractor so no need to drag the trolly around the streets, the parade focus shifted. The magnificent costumes switched to shop bought ones with all the effort being put towards where to stash the drinks. Some folks opted for a simple bag on wheels with a bit of decoration, others created altogether more ingenious devices.

The great thing about carnaval is that anyone can take part, and it looked like pretty much everyone from the town did – as well as plenty of others from surrounding towns too. It took over an hour for the main part of the parade to go through. Eventually the participants were just using it as an excuse to dress up and have a party in the streets, and who can blame them.

At this point we called it a day, glad we’d picked somewhere at the start of the route to watch as it was now getting dark and the front of the parade was yet to reach the main square. We’re just not cut out to party like the locals, who carried on until the small hours.

Carnaval de Mascotas

Sunday started with what would be my favourite part of the weekend – The Carnaval de Mascota. Back in the marquee where the Ninfa was crowned, it was time for another fancy dress competition, this time for dogs.

Around a dozen dogs took to the stage in varying levels of fancy dress, many of the owners dressing up to match. Then the winning five were called back onto the stage and given their prizes (between €150 and €50), if Charlie was still with us, I’d be sorely tempted to make something for him so he could join in.

Entierro del Chanquete

We headed back to the campsite for a couple of hours while more fancy dress competitions took place. This time for the best funeral mourner (best little widow/widower) for the final procession, the ‘Entierro Del Bogueron’ which is also sometimes known as ‘Entierro del Chanquete’. The ‘Entierro del Chanquete’ or Burial of the Anchovy (often referred to as the burial of the Sardine).

I have no idea about the roots of this part of the carnaval, but this somewhat bizarre tradition can apparently be seen throughout Spain. Here in Nerja a large decorated (fake) Anchovy is taken on a slow march through the streets in a funeral style with participants dressed in black, wailing and displaying their sadness at the death of the fish as well as some of the men in drag.

Many of the costumes from the day before get another airing, and after all the work that has gone into them, so they should.

They were joined by huge inflatable octopus (we think) on stilts and jellyfish dangling from fishing rods. We watched them set off, then grabbed a place on the Balcon de Europa to get a good view for the finale.

After a couple of hours the parade returned to the Balcon de Europa and the fish was put in pride of place so everyone could have their photo taken with it.

Finally as it turned to dusk it was time to say farewell to the chanquete. It was carried down to La Calahonda beach and after a firework display, it was blown up and set on fire!

If you get chance to see a Spanish carnaval, I would strongly recommend it. Pick and choose which bits you want to see as it can be a looong weekend, but be sure to catch the main parade as so much effort goes into those costumes.

Ju x