Mojitos are a popular drink during Carnival: sugar, lemon juice, rum and mint. This bar is famous for them all year round, so during Carnival they prepare them in batches. This was one of the smaller batches! One of the things I like about La Palma, is that people often have a few drinks, but it’s rare to see anyone downright drunk. There’s an article about this at https://sheilacrosby.com/articles/drunks.php
The biggest night of Carnival on the island is Los Indianos parade. In the 19th century the island was very poor, and many people emigrated to Cuba – the Indies. Some of them came back rich, so that the arrival of a boat from Cuba was quite an event, even though there were more boats to Latin America than to mainland Spain. So we have a pretend boatload of nouveau-riche…
Today was Los Indianos, which is usually my favourite night of Carnival. It’s the night when people dress up in white, maybe have a suitcase full of Monopoly money, and for some reason throw vast quantities of talc at each other. By vast, I mean tons. Literally tons. My son spent last night with my friends on Franceses. The plan was for them to bring him home this afternoon, then…
Last night we had a diplomatic procession through Santa Cruz, where the representatives of any nation you care to mention graced us with their presence. And I missed it. (We had a family birthday party at midday, and I still couldn’t drive that evening.) So here are some photos from 2006.
Spain celebrates Carnival in the week before the season of Lent. I always say people are making sure they have something really juicey to repent, but these days most people just regard it as a darn good excuse for a party. It wasn’t always that way. Franco banned Carnival. It’s always been a time when people could say and do things they wouldn’t normally get away with, and perhaps he…
I originally came to La Palma to work at the astronomical observatory here. Almost as soon as I heard I’d got the job, my parents went to a travel agent to find out how much it would cost to visit. The girl at the desk said, “Las Palmas de Gran Canaris? Certainly Sir. I’ll just look it up for you.” “No,” explained my father. “The island of La Palma. My…