The price of hotel stays in a city on Tenerife soared to thousands of pounds for a couple of nights during its ongoing carnival season.
Two nights in Santa Cruz during the first weekend of the city’s carnival saw room charges of more than £2,297 (€2,700), local media reports.
Local English language news website, Canarian Weekly, referencing online accommodation portals, says staying in the centre of Santa Cruz from February 9-11 commanded such sums.
Tens of thousands of visitors descending on the city for its annual carnival have led to hotels, holiday apartments and private holiday homes being almost fully booked.
An annual spectacle, Santa Cruz Carnival is the largest in the Canary Islands and runs this year from February 9 to Sunday (February 18). The theme is “television”.
A search of Booking.com by this publication for a two night stay in Santa Cruz for two adults from Friday (February 16) to Sunday showed 96 percent of stays unavailable via the site.
Of the places to stay with accommodation available, prices ranged from a single bed in a mixed dormitory in Santa Cruz at £119 up to £2,356 at a private rental 250 yards from the city centre.
Places to stay outside Santa Cruz came in at relatively much lower prices, with a double room in La Laguna, more than four miles from the city, starting at £164.
A twin room with private barthroom in a villa in Radazul would set you back £586, including taxes and charges.
According to the carnival organisers, the most important events take place on the streets of Santa Cruz’s city centre, which come to life every day and night with music and dancing.
The festivities kick off with the election of a carnival queen, followed by an opening parade, days of street parties then the main carnival parade, Coso de Carnaval, and the Burial of the Sardine, among other events.
Burial of the Sardine marks the end of the carnival and sees widows fill the streets of Santa Cruz to “mourn” the “death” of Carnival, personified as Don Carnal, who appears in the form of a sardine carried on a special float.
Carnival organisers report that in 2019 a total of 400,000 people joined the celebrations. They also say most of those who attend wear costumes so anyone who wants to join in will need to bear that in mind.