One annual event which boosts the local rental bookings in the Costa de la Luz is the Sunshine Tour held annually at Montenmedio close to Vejer de la Frontera. This annual equestrian event sees professional riders visiting from all over the world to compete in show jumping, dressage and carriage driving events.

We have seen a steady increase in the number of rental enquiries we receive for the Sunshine Tour over the years we have been a rental agent in Vejer de la Frontera and many of our clients are now on their 4th and 5th visit.

Repeat business is vital in the rental market and repeat custom comes directly from the service you provide to your clients. The key points are flexibility, local knowledge and providing a quality product at a competitive price.

This year again saw full occupancy for our rental clients and with a normal rental of 5/6 weeks in each property, it is a good income and steady trade for both the property owners and us as agents.

The Carnival this year in Cadiz also provided record bookings for our Cadiz properties and the rental income for a 3 night stay can equal the income for a whole month in winter. Although the numbers on the streets were down a little on previous years, partly due to the reconstruction of the main square (Plaza San Juan de Dios) which was closed to the public, the many thousands who attended the Carnival had a fabulous time and provisional bookings have already been made for next year.

Every town in the Costa de la Luz offers varied and attractive events which can bring people in to the area. In Sanlucar de Barrameda yet another equestrian event attracts rental clients in August for the annual horse races on the beach, where the horses under the control of professional international jockeys thunder up the flattened sand to win prizes well in to the hundreds of thousands of euros.

The many ferias throughout Andalucia also bring people not only from other countries in to the area but attract thousands of visitors from other parts of Spain. Every town and village has a Feria and they all attract tourists who need accommodation.

So remember when you decide to rent, don´t only look at the obvious, like the local beach as an attraction, also look at the events in your area which may attract additional visitors.

Amongst the best Carnival´s in Spain is Cadiz. A competition is held annually in the week before the Carnival to find the best musical groups to entertain the crowds. These can be choirs of 3 – 40 people or groups of ten who sing in close harmony and are accompanied by drum box and guitar. The songs generally flows to the beat of a tango or pasodoble and they vie for first place in the Music Festival at the Gran Teatro Falla in the old town area of Cadiz City. The event is taken very seriously and televised across Spain. The words to the songs generally ridicule the establishment, religion, public figures and celebrities. Some of the lyrics are written by professional writers but many are steeped in history and passed down from generation to generation.

Carnival has been a big part of the Cadiz social calendar for centuries apart from the 40 years when General Franco banned it. Whether that was for fear of being ridiculed or he felt it was not an appropriate part of Spanish life nobody knows but since it recommenced it fills 6 months of many Cadiz citizen´s lives with practising and preparing for the those few precious days in February.

Where did this strange event begin – well, that is a good question. Always held immediately before Lent, some believe it dates back to the Roman festival of Saturnalia held in honour of Saturn. Floats would be taken through the streets, the wine flowed and normal behaviour was turned on its head. It is even documented that slave owners served their slaves at the table during Carnival in a strange twist of social etiquette. Others believe it dates back to the 17th century when the Spanish tried to mimic the Carnival of Venice which was hailed as the finest in the world. Certainly Cadiz was a seafaring port and many traditions were brought to the country through its trade routes along with the silks and spices which filled the ship´s holds. The great galleons returned from the four corners of the earth laden not only with treasure but also the music of foreign lands. In the music of Carnival you can hear African, Creole and Columbian tunes mixed with the traditional flamenco music of Spain.

Some say Carnival is a Catholic festival and a signal to end the eating of meat for Lent. It is a possibility as the word for meat in Spanish is carne and valle means farewell so the two words together could certainly have formed the word Carnival. However, the very essence of Carnival; the permissiveness, the turning upside down of the rules of established order, the dressing up of human beings as animals, males as females, the fireworks, alcohol and general merriment seems a bit pagan for the church. Certainly the timing of the Carnival fits well with the church calendar. Carnival ends with La Miercoles de Ceniza and another festival at this time is El Entierro de la Sardina or the burial of the sardine. It is a strange site to witness as a woman dressed as a widow in black carries a tiny coffin (the coffin of the sardine) down to the beach and buries it in the sand amidst crowds of spectators. This signifies the end of the fun and the start of the fasting and praying for Lent. Even now many Spaniards do not eat meat on La Miercoles de Ceniza.

I think it would be hard to say that Carnival comes solely from a Christian background. Many of the elements are indeed pre Christian especially the mimicking of animals and birds but here it came from and why does not really matter. The fact is the Carnival provides a few days of wild entertainment during the coldest part of the year to cheer us all up. So maybe we should just enjoy it and not worry too much about the where, the why and the what for.