After doing all the official events at the carnival in Santa Cruz last year, we decided to stay in Puerto de la Cruz this year and concentrate more on the wilder side of carnival – the all night fancy dress street parties and the High Heels Marathon.
These are the more anarchic face of carnival and all the more fun for the no-holds barred approach to having fun.
Real or Not?
For the most part the police stay discreetly out of view at the street parties although there are plenty of fake police amongst the crowd. This guy’s costume is quite realistic and his job could be to keep a lid on dodgy dancing. But he’s far too short to be a member of the surly and butch National Police whose job it is to watch over carnival street parties.
Definitely Fake
The local police are much more laid back although I’m pretty sure that these fishnet wearing ones aren’t the real McCoy.
Foto, Foto, Foto
Point the camera at the crowd and you’re swamped by shouts of ‘foto, foto,foto’. Sometimes when you whip the camera out it seems to be the signal for carnival goers to whip their body parts out (usually fake). This group of mimes and Minnies were on the conservative side.
Carnival Porn Queen Granny
Whereas this particular ‘girl’ wasn’t quite so camera coy. My favourite costume of this year’s carnival in Puerto de la Cruz because of its sky-high eeeuuch factor.
The Comic Carnival
The theme of carnival in Puerto de la Cruz was comics. Although there were a few superheroes about, sometimes you had to look a little bit closer to spot the comic book connection.
Out of the Ordinary
Occasionally a costume had the most surreal impact when its wearer was amongst ‘normal’ people.
A Carnival Mugging
Thousands of people go to the street parties; they drink all night and there is rarely trouble. It feels a completely fun and safe environment. The only mugging that goes on is the over the top posing for photos.
The Carnival Bar
Although the parties take place in the streets there are some bars in the heart of the action where you’re always guaranteed to run into some good costumes. Frigata beside the harbour is a top carnival bar populated by a mix of Canarios, ex-pats, visitors and mature cross-dressing residents.
Unique Fancy Dress Costumes
The High Heels Marathon attracts some of the more outrageous and inventive costumes. These household appliances weren’t outrageous but they were clever. There were giant coffee pots, ghetto blasters, cuckoo clocks, computer keyboards and all sorts amongst this group.
And Back to Baring Nearly All
Ultimately what we really like are those carnival kings and queens who go all out to shock. These two Batman strippers managed it. But only because we were shocked that they’d be mad enough to brave a February night dressed like this.
Jack is co-owner, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites plus lots of other things. Follow Jack on Google+
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