Bugging good time had by all!

(Photo: TioJimeno)

We missed Carnival here at JimenaPulse. Fortunately, our good ole colleagues up the hill at TioJimeno were there in full form. They took hundreds of photos, movies, jokes, songs and came up with several web albums. The main Saturday night display of costumes produced at least two albums (Album 1 and Album2) and yesterday's song and dance through the streets, another album. It is well worth looking through them to see who you know as that every day person -often more serious and 'formal' than may appear in the photos. They had a lot of fun, they did. You can get a taste for it on TioJimeno: they're choc-a-bloc with Carnival on there!

Getting ready for CARNAVAL

Furious activity down behind the school this morning. And furious drivers unable to park anywhere near the Friday market, too. But then, this is only once a year - and it starts tonight! Be aware, though, that just about everything begins late, that is, other than the kids' carnival, activities are scheduled well into the night and usually start later than scheduled. For tonight is the pregón, or official opening (the pregonero is the person who makes the opening speech - as your very own Prospero was some sixteen years ago!). SEE THE FULL PROGRAMME IN ENGLISH HERE

Carnival programme - all you wanted to know and more

Carnival is chaos. That you knew but we thought you might need reminding. Below is the official events programme but you can expect other things to go on 'privately' (not on the official programme, silly!) and possibly 'publicly' (we should hope not!). In any case, and as we have said many times before, you can get a much more thorough grounding in what CARNAVAL is in Jimena, and most of the province of Cádiz and Southern Spain, by clicking here to go to TioJimeno, who is a stalwart carnavalero together with several of his team. Just type in the word 'carnaval' and you'll get everything and more about it. We have set up a link for this item on the sidebar. Programme:>>>

What's this and why is it everywhere?

JIMENA We saw this at the pensioners' day centre (relax, we only go there to rehearse for when we get a pension). Then we saw another one in a bar. And then another, and another and more ... we think we know what it's about, but do you? Okay, this picture is a bit dark but you can read what it says if you click on it.

UPDATE: Jimena Carnival moved forward

'Beffa's Angels', Carnaval 2009
(Photo: TioJimeno)

New dates: from Feb 24 to 26

JIMENA (TioJimeno) The local carnival groups have asked Councillor for Festivities, Cristóbal Lirios, to bring forward the dates during which Jimena celebrates its Carnival (see previous item here, including the dates for other villages in the municipality). Just for a laugh, see Prospero making a fool of himself. If you want an explanation of what carnival is in these parts, check the items below, which is merely a glossary of terms you will find in the carnival programme when we get it.>>>

Carnival celebration dates for Jimena

JIMENA The Council has set the dates for Carnival celebrations in the municipality. (Although Carnival is supposed to be a 'beginning-of-Lent' religious thing, 'secular licence' makes sure that it is not all held at the same time everywhere. This applies to the whole of Spain.) The dates for 2012 are as follows: San Martín del Tesorillo: March 2 - 4; San Pablo de Buceite, March 9 -11; Jimena de la Frontera, March 16 to 18. For a 'review' of last year's Carnaval, click here. If you write 'carnaval' into the search widget, top-ish right on the sidebar, you will get a whole lot more.

¡Esto sí que es, un Carnaval!

The winners of last nights costume competition were: Best Individual costume (€50): Mireya's Peacock; Best Couple costumes (€80): The Cala Cao Girls, Mari Angeles and Claudia. Group Prizes: 1st: (€200) Los Tres Etc. del Coronel, by Mari Angeles & Co.; 2nd (€150) The Guitars, (photo) Juanito, Roberto, etc.; 3rd (€120) Pakito's LOs Chantarellas. But there was a lot more. The above came on almost at dawn, but before that avaerybody in costume, including political candidates, people you would never imagine could possibly ... well, you can have a good look, as always, directly on  TioJimeno, or on their web album, where you will also find out about the fun the kids had yesterday afternoon, and a lot more.

Carnival, carnival, carnival! Wot a laugh!!

You shouldn't miss it, even if you don't understand much (we don't and we have colloquial Spanish, to a degree) but just watching the craziness is fun. Even if its raining inside the marquee, which it may well have been, unless ... no, better not say it. Things got under way last night, (or, to use a well worn Spanish phrase: El carnaval tuvo su pistoletazo de salida - The carnival got its starting gun off) with a wonderful opening, taking the p**s out of Tejero's attempted coup on 23-M (photo),  followed by ... Hang on, you can see all the videos on TioJimeno, or on their YouTube channel, and get the lyrics from their website. And, thanks to everyone else doing our work for us, there's a million photos like the one above from the town hall's photo album for Friday, showing every act  - with more to follow for today and tomorrow. (Prospero memo to monkeys: 'What's that naughty word up there?' Answer from monkeys: Boss ,all of Carnival is about taking the p**s!!)

CARNAVAL gets under way tonight - even if it's raining!

JIMENA It seems to us that it has always rained over Carnival weekend in Jimena, though this is floodingly denied by drunken sots of all ages and conditions in any bar. What, you might ask, were we doing in a bar anyway? Ah, we were trying to find out who is doing what and when. And why is this and prior Carnivals allowing a Cuarteto of only two people (photo of Jorge and Tobi doing their thing onstage a couple of years ago). And what the hay is the difference between a comparsa and a chirigota. And questions like that. But then, we asked the very same drunken sots and got very similar slurried answers. And it was raining cats and kangaroos, so we went home and referred to our very favourite Carnival website, TioJimeno, who came up with a description of each and every performance of local groups, which we don't have time to translate because we are due for dinner somewhere and can't afford to pass up a free meal. You can see the Carnival thing on TioJimeno right here, though.

Completely full and overwhelming translation of Carnival programme at your disposal

JIMENA As promised, below please find the full programme of events for Jimena's Carnival, which takes place next weekend, March 11, 12 1nd 13. Don't worry about the weather, which does not look good but never does for Carnival. Anyway, most activities are under a marquee (Here's an idea: make an umbrella part of your costume). Carnival trends to be noisy and goes on 'til dawn, usually, so if you don't want to take part, or it isn't part of your culture, don't grumble, just head for the sheets - and don't say you weren't warned. PROGRAMME (and a few notes on what to expect):>

Carnival programme is almost closed

JIMENA We apologize because on our last item on this subject, we misinformed you about the location of the main marquee, which, according to a press release received yesterday evening, will be located in the car park by the main square, Plaza de la Constitucion, better known as El Paseo. The kiddies' rides will be at the Friday market space (less well known as Plaza Diego Prieto Bueno). The village's Carnaval gets going on Friday 11th March (other Jimena villages' events on UpComing Events calendar) and includes a Children's Carnival and a Fancy Dress Dance. As soon as The Translation People hand it in, we will be publishing a translation of the full programme, so we don't have hysterical children (or their parents) all dressed up on the wrong day again this year...

Jimena Carnival coming up!

JIMENA The Carnival in Jimena is scheduled for the weekend of March 11, 12 and 13. As usual, the main tent will be set up behind the primary school and the noisy rides, if any, on the market square. The other Carnivals in the municipality are as follows: Tesorillo, 18, 19 & 20; and San Pablo, 25,26 & 27.

Jimena's 2011 Carnival dates selected

JIMENA (Press release) The dates for Carnival in the municipality of Jimena have been decided so as not to duplicate celebrations in the three main villages. The Carnival period this year was established for the weekends between the 11 and 27th of March, according to a press release that came from the Department of Festivities headed by Councillor Jesús Rodríguez. The schedule is as follows:

All you wanted to know about Jimena's 2010 Carnival, and more

As we told you, Dear Reader, we weren't about to stay up 'til all hours (not any more, not any more, at our age). But the youngsters over at TioJimeno couldn't help it. So, without their express permission (just a general sort of one), we have linked you to their excellent coverage. All you have to do is click on the word TioJimeno above to find out what went on over the three days. It's well worth a look even if just to see who you might recognize under their costumes, or to pick out your child among the crowds - and maybe even to relive the fun? 

Jimena Carnival got under way last night (weather permitted)

As we said repeatedly in another Carnival item below, just about everything that goes on is 'weather permitting', unless it takes place under the marquee, in which case an umbrella might be useful if cumbersome. Well, weather permitted last night. First on was Pepe Mena, as pregonero ('official announcer' or maybe even 'heralder'), who was followed by all the local groups (See photos on TioJimeno's Picasa Web Album). Judging by a lot of pale faces this morning, things went on until well into the early hours - supposing you consider 'early hours' as around 6 or 7am!). You can follow it all on TioJimeno, who was presumably up there all night, too. (Can anyone tell who the guy in the photo is? Some of us know him well...)

Jimena Carnival: full programme

Below you will find the full programme for Jimena's Carnival as garnered from a Town Hall press release. We accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the schedule (things usually start later than announced) and we certainly want none regarding the weather. Activities for children are marked in red. While we will try to bring you as much as possible about the proceedings throughout, our Chief Monkey, Prospero, is not up until dawn as he has a life that mainly happens during daylight. However, we highly recommend you check out our colleagues TioJimeno, who are notorious carnavaleros and will undoubtedly be reporting, filming, interviewing and photographing everything in sight. Indeed, they've been on and on about Carnaval for some time already.>

Jimena Carnival gets under way tonight

Preparations are well under way for Jimena’s Carnival, which opens tonight, starting at 10pm. As seems to happen every year, our Carnival coincides with the worst weather no matter when our turn is. JimenaPulse has tried before to give an idea what it is all about – no resemblance to Notting Hill or Rio – but failed miserably, so we will not attempt it again. However, there are plenty of colourful pointers you might be interested in:

It is a very advanced course in Andaluz Spanish and even our intrepid and fully bilingual Prospero has to buy the various little booklets to find out what the words are to the songs, very often taking the p**s out of politicians of all kinds.>

Jimena Carnival 2010 poster revealed

The poster for this year's Carnival (February 26 to 28) activities was presented recently by Councillor Jesús Rodríguez. The poster was designed again this year by María de los Ángeles Navarro, who this time chose a combination of elements that are an allegory of previous Carnivals. The poster is at the printers and will soon be seen around town. For Carnival celebrations around the municipality and Campo de Gibraltar, keep an eye on our UpComing Events calendar on the sidebar. If you want to know about Carnival in Jimena, no better place to look than TioJimeno, where a translation facility is available through Google. (See also, related JP item here.)

Jimena Carnival dates

According to Wikipedia, "While the starting day of Carnival varies, the festival usually builds up to a crescendo in the week before lent, ending on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (17 February this year). But it is different in Spain, erstwhile a staunch Catholic nation. Having long lost its religious significance, in Jimena each village has its own dates, well after the beginning of what once was a sombre Lenten period. It is so in many places in Spain, where regional celebrations ('bachanalia' comes quickly to mind) are as varied as the country's regions. In this area, they take on an almost pantomime-ish guise (Oops! Prospero can feel an article coming on) and, village by village, these are the dates:>

Carnival is almost here

Carnival in Jimena this year is to be held on the weekend of March 13, 14 and 15. In years past, we have tried to explain this phenomenon, a difficult proposition at the best of times as it's so different in the province of Cádiz to anything associated with the likes of Rio de Janeiro or Venice. We don't know if we've been of any help at all, but you can see for yourself: CARNIVAL. You might also want to look at TioJimeno, who is an avid fan of Carnaval and is thus better qualified than we are to explain anything (go to his page and write in carnaval in the space beside the header, where it says 'Buscar' - that's 'Search' in Spanish. The page is translatable into something resembling English.) We couldn't help illustrating this item with anything other than yours truly 'officially announcing' or 'presenting' the Carnival in 1998 ... oh, too many years ago. A little anecdote and another photo:>>>