page_title: Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife / History
caption_attribution_description: Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá
context_page_description: The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is held each February in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the largest island of the Canary Islands, Spain and attracts people from all over the world.
  It is considered the second most popular and internationally known carnival, after the one held in Rio de Janeiro. Partially for this reason, the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is twinned with the city of Rio de Janeiro.
  In 1980, it was declared a Tourist Festival of International Interest by the Secretary of State for Tourism. The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife aspires to become a World Heritage Site, as a declaration of its status as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO would promote the festival internationally. In 1987, singer Celia Cruz went to the Carnival Chicharrero with Billo's Caracas Boys; attended by 250,000 people, the concert was registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest gathering of people in an outdoor plaza to attend a concert. In 2019 for its part, more than 400,000 people danced to the rhythm of Juan Luis Guerra during the Carnival of the day thus surpassing the record reached in 1987 with Celia Cruz.
context_section_description: The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been celebrated since the time of the earliest European settlement, and possibly earlier. In 1605 Gaspar Luis Hidalgo alluded to the habit of reversing the sexes in dress. Early written references date from the end of the 18th century, in the writings of visitors.
  The journal of Lope Antonio de la Guerra Peña in 1778 includes a dance held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he then talked about comparsas (bands playing conga music). In 1783, the Corregidor reported the use of masks "being banned by royal instructions". In practice the ban was not carried out, and a carnival feature was the mixing of the masked upper class with the common people.
caption: NiFú-NiFá Carnival orchestra
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