Carnaval cancelled

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I know that in the UK it's just a few pancake races, a big selling opportunity for Jif and then ashes on the forehead for religious folk. Meanwhile in Rio they're whooping it up to the beat of a samba drum and down in the Canaries or even in nearby Torrevieja some chap in huge high heels will be over the moon because he has been elected Carnaval Drag Queen.

Carnaval, the run up to Lent, is big in Spain. Last year, in Ciudad Rodrigo, we watched as everyone dressed up and ran around the streets chased by fighting bulls. This year we decided to stay in town for the weekend to see what the Cartageneros get up to. We had the programme and I was quite keen on the 12 noon event as it included free beer. It never happened. Neither did the big parade at 6pm.

The reason was because it was raining. True it was that heavy, persistent grey English rain and there was a lot of it but can you imagine an English village fete being cancelled because of a few drops of water? And how did everyone else know? There weren't tens or hundreds of us milling about looking for the lost festivities just we two damp souls.

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