No matter what month of the year you're visiting Jerez,
you'll probably find a local fiesta going on but the
biggest and best takes place at the beginning of Lent
(usually at the end of February, beginning of March).
This is carnival time all over Spain but Cadiz is famous
for having the most spectacular pre-Lent festival on
the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. It's a match for
the famous carnival celebration on the Spanish Canary
island of Tenerife and the world's biggest knees-up
in Rio de Janeiro.
The word carnival comes from a Latin phrase meaning
to give up meat. This ancient festival developed as
an excuse to party like mad before the 40-day Lenten
fast during which Catholics have traditionally been
expected to go without meat (and most other worldly
pleasures). The often wild and irreligious celebrations
were banned in Spain under the fascist dictator Franco
and Cadiz gained notoriety as the only city to defy
the ban.
These days thousands of Spaniards flock to Cadiz to
enjoy a week of street parties, fancy dress parades,
outrageous political satire and round-the-clock merrymaking
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