It’s a white out!
Indianos la Palma by rosillaescrig, on Flickr
When: Monday before Lent.
Where: Santa Cruz de La Palma, Spain
Indianos la Palma by rosillaescrig, on Flickr
On Carnival Monday the streets of Santa Cruz de La Palma in Spain fill with over 50,000 white-clad revelers and huge clouds of talcum powder in an eccentric celebration known as the Day of the Indians (Día de los Indianos).
In the early 20th century, boatloads of locals emigrated to Cuba and returned home, having made their fortune, dressed in Cuban-style white guayaberas and panama hats, carrying suitcases of money. These newly wealthy emigrants were so full of their own self importance bragging about their riches, that they became the target of Carnival jokes. White clothes, Panama hats and suitcases full of money are the main dress for the talcum powder fight, and the main Carnival parade often features Caribbean style costume and blacked up face etc.
Have you been to the Día de Los Indianos in Spain yourself? If so, please tell us all about it! You can share your pics and videos on our facebook page too! Or if you just want to say hi, or leave a comment for any other reason, we’d love to hear from you.
Food & drink
Try our tasty Spanish Tortilla. Drink a good Spanish Rioja.
Travel to Spain
La Palma is one of the Canary islands off the coast of mainland Spain. The nearest major airport to Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain is La Palma Airport about 6 km from the center of Santa Cruz de la Palma. If you cannot find flights directly to Santa Cruz de la Palma then try flying in to Tenerife and get the ferry across to La Palma de Santa Cruz.
Dates / venues may be subject to change or cancellation. Distances may be straight-line estimates. Please verify information before booking.
Enjoy your trip! And when you’re home we’d love you to come back and tell us all about it!
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Pahiyas Festival
Just experienced this fab bonkers event. The kids seem to have their day on the sunday and it’s amazing to watch them all having so much fun with no fall-outs or tears even though it is a ‘fight’. All the costumes on monday were wonderful too. We watched the main event from a distance and could feel ourselves breathing in the talc so god knows what it does to your lungs if you’re in the thick of it! The beer and mojitos helped though! So glad we saw it.
How lovely and what a great time to be in Spain with all the carnival celebrations going on, Thank you for sharing your experience!