Carnival I love you
The Carnival arrives to tell us that for a few days we leave aside all the rules and uniforms of everyday life. Carnival is synonymous with celebration, madness and transgression. And we want you to enjoy it by proposing some of the most recognized carnivals in Barcelona. This year 2019 the Carnival is celebrated around the first weekend of March. MuchaMasia, the rural hostel urbà in Prat de Llobregat, connects you with all these events by train or public transport. And also with the celebration of this party in our town. Live the carnivals! Prepare to sin.
The Carnival, that crazy party
Where does the Carnival tradition come from? We go to Wikipedia, which tells us: “Carnival is a celebration that takes place immediately before Christian Lent (which begins with Ash Wednesday), and has a variable date (between February and March depending on the year). starts on a Thursday and ends on the following Tuesday (carnival Tuesday) .The carnival combines elements such as costumes, groups that sing couplets, parades and street parties.Despite the differences that its celebration presents in the world, its common characteristic is to be a period of permissiveness and a certain lack of control. ”
Seen the origin of this festivity, from MuchaMasia we propose four different ways to live this party. Get ready to enjoy the carnivals!
Sitges lives in sin
Undoubtedly, the Sitges Carnival is the most famous of all the carnivals in Catalonia. It attracts thousands of visitors and has thousands of other participants. This party in Sitges is associated with debauchery and madness. It lasts almost two weeks, although the epicenter of the celebration is from Thursday evening. Parades, or rúas as they are called here, take the streets of the historic center. Parties in all venues, LGTBI pride is what you can find in one of the most powerful Carnivals in the Mediterranean. One of the busiest times is the Rua del Extermini, the early hours of Tuesday to Wednesday of ash.
Sitges is 25 minutes by train from MuchaMasia. You take the train to Vilanova i la Geltrú in El Prat Estació and get off at Sitges.
Vilanova: a battle of candies
If Sitges is madness, Vilanova is a centuries-old tradition. We know that its history goes back more than 250 years and its most spectacular act is “Las Comparsas” (“Les Comparses”), where 16,000 people take to the streets with their societies and accompanied by more than 100 music bands from all of Spain. The comparseros go in pairs, the men with the typical Catalan cap “barretina” and the women with the Manila shawl. They throw sweets through the streets until they reach the final war in the Plaza de la Villa, where all the societies gather to the music of the Turuta to throw candy to everyone.
This carnival is recommended because of its peculiarity and because it is also very close to MuchaMasia. The train connects you directly from El Prat with Vilanova i la Geltrú in 30 minutes.
Torelló, the Carnival of Terra Endins
Torelló is a small town of 13,000 inhabitants, in the heart of Catalunya. Its people prepare the celebration of the Carnival throughout the year, which reaches more than 80,000 people. It is what is known as the Terra Endins Carnival, or the inland carnival. The party begins on Thursday with the “Pullassu”, a festive ceremony where the madness begins to take over the town. From here, there are many acts that come together to enjoy one of the most prominent carnivals in Catalonia.
The Carnival Rua of Terra Endins is the act that stands out among all the activities organized in Torelló. The originality of each of the floats that parade is the reason for its success. the organizers compete to outperform the other floats. In addition, the participants who go through the streets disguise themselves and are the target of the caçadisfresses (costume hunters), a group of people who walk through the streets and reward the best costumes. After the rúa you can enjoy a dance. And hold until Wednesday, to bury the sardine.
To Torelló you can arrive by train. From El Prat to Sants Estació, and there take the train towards Puigcerdà, stopping at Torelló.
El Prat, in our town
And of course, we also offer you the possibility of living the Carnival in El Prat de Llobregat. No need to take transport, you can get involved in the party enjoying the parade of comparsas. This year, the ambience of the celebration of the Carnival in the city is in charge of our friend Sonia Frizzante and surely it will surprise us. In addition, for the Saturday night of Carnival, there are many places that celebrate parties for everyone.
As you can see, there are many options to enjoy Carnival.