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Barcelona carnival

You can always tell when its carnival time in Barcelona as most of the children you see on the streets are dressed in some kind of costume, usually walking to or from some event in the city. It does seem to be mainly aimed at children, and although events are organised across the city, it doesn’t even attempt to match the excesses of some carnivals, including the one at Sitges.

The first mention of a carnival in Barcelona was in 1333, although it is likely that it was celebrated before that as a pagan festival. These days all the markets in Barcelona host competitions for the best carnival costumes and serve omelette, botifarra sausages and sardines.

The carnival official ends on Ash Wednesday – which falls on 25th February in 2009 – and is marked by “burying the sardine”, a peculiar sounding ritual which consists of a funeral procession for the poor sardine, led by singers and dancers.

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