Carnaval de Nerja 2010 – Rain!

Carnaval time in Nerja. A time for the locals to dress up and party. Time for us to find our usual spot at La Piqueta and enjoy the tapas and beer as the parade crawls by towards the Plaza. However, things weren’t as normal this year.


La Piqeuta in the rain.

Firstly, the weather was awful. Heavy rain during the morning and persisting in the afternoon. The parade that was due to start at 5pm was in doubt. We headed to Plaza de España, the newly named square behind the Ayuntamiento. Very original! Pockets of people in fancy dress congregated outside the tent, not knowing what was going on. We had a quick look inside the party tent. The dour weather seemed to be reflected inside. The tent was smaller than normal and not as well dressed up as the previous year.

We met up with Ettore and Fabiana as news filtered through that the parade was to go ahead. We headed towards Antonio Million where the parade was due to start. Things at Antonio Million were hectic. Party-goers were arriving late, jockeying for position in the parade. We joined the crowds and tried to get a good vantage point from the pavement. The procession started and headed down Calle Diputacion. As we watched the colourful parade pass, we debated our next move. Would the Carnaval pass by La Piqueta? I was sure it would. The others were worried that the route would be cut short. However, the promise of tapas and beer proved too much and we headed back to the centre.


Carnaval!



We found a perfect spot at La Piqueta to watch the parade go by. The trouble was that the owners were convinced it wouldn’t come this far down Pintada this year. They hadn’t been told to remove the barrels from outside. Although when groups of tourists arrived asking about the parade they seemed to be more optimistic that it would! I was sent up Pintada to see what I could find out. A Civil Protection guard told me the bad news. The parade was to turn right along Calle Cruz and bypassing La Piqueta.


Where are they going?

We made our way up to the junction of Pintada and Cruz. The crowd was beginning to build on the corner. But then confusion. The police riders that escorted the parade headed down Pintada, ordering all the shops to wind back their parasols. The parade was going to pass La Piqueta! We rushed back to see if we could regain our place. No chance, the place was packed! We ended up outside the hostel next door. Still, we had a great view of the parade as it passed by.


Still a good spot.