And the winner is...

As you may or may not know, it is Carnaval time here in Spain. This is basically the Spanish version of Mardi Gras, but, I think, much nicer. After Carnaval in Rio de Janerio, the one here in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is suppose to be the best in the world... Well, I guess would make it the second best in the world. This years theme is 'El Cine de Terror.' (I don't need to translate this, right?)

In addition, the 2009 Carnaval is special because it will be decided if the fiesta is worthy to be declared as Heritage of Mankind. UNESCO representatives are present in Tenerife to consider the classification which has only been given to three other carnavals worldwide.

The preparations for this year have been going on since last year's carnaval, and events and activities have been taking place all this month. However, this week is the official start to all the "real" fun.

Last night they elected the Reina del Carnaval from twenty excited "contestants." The program started at 9:30pm, and because we have the boys, we were only able to watch it from home on Television. Of course, we didn't find out who won until today since the winner wasn't announced until 1:00 a.m., and we needed to go to bed well before that. I certainly could not be a judge for this competition as I thought all the elaborate "dresses" were fantastic! It is amazing how beautiful, extravagant and detailed they all were and I am looking forward to seeing them in person at one of the parades.

Here is, Ana María Tavarez Mata, the 2009 Santa Cruz Reina del Carnaval in her costume entitled ‘Embrujada’ (Bewitched):

Here are the 4 Dama's de Honor (runners-up):

For a little added fun, here are the winners of the senior competition (62 years old) with the theme "Noche de estreno en el Palau" (Opening Night in Palau) and the junior competition (10 years old) with the theme “¡Dime mami!... ¿esto es un sueño?” (Tell me mommy, is this a dream?):

And finally, for comparison, here are a couple of the winners from previous years:

Because most of the events don't even start until REALLY late at night, and we have little ones that must be in bed around 8:00pm, we don't plan on attending an actual event until next Tuesday when they have a daytime parade. In the meantime, I will probably post about what we did for Valentine's Day (better late than never) and anything else interesting or noteworthy we do between now and next Tuesday...