Have you already learnt some words of Carnival during your Spanish language course?

During this time of the year any Spanish language focuses on Carnival! It is quite an important festivity all around Spain: you can discover the best celebrations here.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic all the events will follow the rules in place, whilst some events won’t take place due to the current situation. Anyway learning some Spanish words related to the Carnival is a great idea to feel the atmosphere!

Ready to go through the most popular words?

Carnival in Spain starts with a pregón, an opening speech by the local authority or a celebrity, and carries on for a week.

The words you will definitely come across are:

Carnaval –> Carnival

disfrazasarse –> dress up

desfile –> parade

disfraz –> costume

máscara / careta –> mask

antifaz –> eye mask

reina del Carnaval –> queen of Carnival

carroza –> float

confeti –> confetti

comparsa –> troupe

chiringota –> comic Carnival band

Carnival in Spain is celebrated during the week leading up to Lent: its peak is on Mardi Gras, but during all the week several events take place around Spain.

In Spanish, we have:

Cuaresma –> Lent

Martes de Carnaval –> Mardi Gras

inicio de la Cuaresma –> Ash Wednesday

Do you know the most famous ceremony which celebrates the end of Carnival?

It is called El entierro de la sardina, literally “the burial of the sardine”: it is a sort of funeral parade ending with the burials of a figure which represents a sardine. It is an important ritual: after that, people put all the costumes back to the drawer and go back to their normal life.

And if you want to try a typical Carnival sweet, go for the Tortillas Canarias de Carnaval! They are round, fried pancakes served with a drizzle of honey. Really delicious!

So you are ready to enjoy this amazing festivity!

Have a look at the colourful celebrations around Spain following this link.