Carnaval is big here in Sitges. People proudly refer to an article some years ago that claimed that the Sitges Carnaval was the third best in the world, after Rio and Las Palmas in the Canaries. Well, it's good, but it's not that good ... not least because the temperature at 3.00 am in February can take the edge off the general jollity! But for a small town, Sitges invests enormous amounts of time and money, and it pays off. Someone on the organising committee told us that they estimate that the Carnaval attracts 300,000 visitors for the main parade night. Sitges' resident population is 24,000.

Snapshots:
* My wife's hairdresser, Pierre, LOVES Carnaval, not least because he can turn up to work in full drag. Spectacular ... think Seventies Glam / ABBA - but without the subtle understatement.
* Joni the waiter at the Picnic cafe took our order yesterday with huge shadows under his eyes. (Spanish has a neat word for these - 'ojeras' - sensible for a culture that thoroughly believes in late nights.) He'd had about two hours sleep after spending the night in a gorilla suit dancing on a float. "How was it, Joni?" "Hot."
* The fishmonger's daughter is beautiful - picture a Rennaissance Madonna with pink rubber gloves, gutting trout. She is regretting missing Carnaval this year ... "But it costs so much - the costume and everything - this year I decided that I was actually going to have a proper holiday."
* Sign of the times #1 - The whole route of the procession this year was lined with enormous ugly metal fences, dividing the public from the procession. Sad, because the Sitges Carnaval used to be very much a participant affair - all sorts of bizarre costumes mixed in among the troupes of dancers. The committee man says that it has got so big now that anarchy is dangerous ... but anarchy is the point of Carnaval, surely?
* Sign of the times #2 - We've been impressed for years by the way that Sitges was cleaned up so rapidly after the parade. Usually, by mid-morning, most of the drifts of paper and bottles have disappeared. At midday this year, the place still looked like a rubbish tip after a hurricane, with a few despondent workers poking the mess with brushes. It's the crisis - the Ayuntamiento's broke.

The final event - El Entierro de la Sardina - was low-key, too. I have never found out why the closing of Carnaval should involve burying a sardine, but it's an ancient tradition (see the Goya image ) In Sitges, the story is that the Carnaval King, Carnestoltes, has died, and his funeral procession passes through the town, accompanied by mourners swathed in black and weeping histrionically. Usually, the gay community of Sitges take to this with relish - sweeping hats and veils, fishnet tights and high heels - but this year nobody seemed to get into the spirit of the thing. Carnestoltes seemed very much alive and dancing away, looking like Caliban on a float which seemed to have something to do with 'The Tempest'. The most spectacular of the few mourners was the gent in the photo - although even he seemed a bit uncomfortable ...

Ah well - here's to next year!