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.