The Almuñécar Department for Culture, Education & Fiestas has been busy cooking up the Carnival programme for this year.
The fiestas will be held on the 25th and 26th of this month with the Carnaval en Bici taking place on the Saturday (26th) as part of the main celebrations.
Prior to that, on the 25th will be the toddler version for under 3-year olds, explained Councillor, Alberto García Gilabert, who heads the department.
Then, the following day, Saturday, at 16.00h the Carnaval en Bici begins. This particular activity is organised by the Club Ciclista Almuñécar. Participants will leave the main entrance of the Municipal Sports Stadium around 17.00h.
The route is as follows: Calle Puerto de la Cruz (Stadium road), Calle Baracoa along to Calle Mariana Pineda and Hurtado de Mendoza, reaching the Plaza Madrid. From there, they will ride along the Paseo del Altillo, Paseo Prieto Moreno and Paseo San Cristóbal, turning off at Calle Guadix all the way up to the Avenida Costa del Sol.
From there its off to the Carrera de la Concepción, Avenida Rey Juan Carlos I, Calle Hurtado de Mendoza, before heading off again to Plaza Madrid, Paseo del Altillo, Paseo Prieto Moreno, Paseo San Cristóbal, Calle Guadix… but then taking Calle Vélez up to the Plaza de la Constitución (Town Hall Square) where gifts will be handed out to the ‘surviving’ participants.
Then there is the adult version of Carnival, which follows at 20.00h with a parade beginning and ending in the Town Hall Square.
The route is: Plaza de la Constitución, Calle Jesús Nazareno (church hill), Puerta Granada, Carrera de la Concepción, Avenida Andalucía, Calle Montevideo, Calle Aduana Vieja, Plaza de la Rosa, Calle Baja del Mar, Calle Real and finally, Plaza de la Constitución again, where prizes for the best costumes will be awarded.
Editorial comment: this is the real Spain, which is being swamped by merciless, Anglo-Saxon marketing, replacing Carnival with Halloween and The Three Kings with Santa Claus. How bloody sad.
(News: Almuñécar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)