Cadiz

weekender

travel WORDS by Luc Ciotkowski

Cádiz

All about

Carnival WORDS by Matt Johnson

“…And it’s not over until they bury the life-size effigy of a sardine…” If you just caught that bit of a conversation, what would you think they were talking about? It is of course the legendary Carnival of Cádiz. Matt Johnson has been getting excited about it for the last month, and so will you be when you read this.

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f you’ve found yourself standing in front of your shiny new 2009 calendar, staring hopelessly at the vast stretch of days until Holy Week, have no fear. There is in fact, a light at the end of our work-rat tunnels. And as we draw closer to that ever expanding, blinding brightness ahead, we begin to hear an echo of beats and rhythm. Pretty soon our eardrums are met with shouts of revelry, choruses of song and laughter, and, what’s that? Fireworks? Before we know it, our heads are nodding in tune to a mysterious Spanish sonance, our toes start tapping in tune with drum cadences, and now, powerless to stop ourselves, we’re in the throes of a full on fit of fiesta fun. Then, as we emerge from this darkness into the light of day, we notice that we’re not only double fisting copas of sangría, but have mysteriously slipped out of our blue jeans and into – what’s that? A ballerina tutu and Mickey Mouse ears? Where in the wacky world are we? There can only be one definitive answer, amigos: Carnival in Cádiz. Considered to be the third largest Carnival celebration behind Rio De Janeiro and Trinidad, Cádiz is temporarily transformed for ten days every February into one multi-coloured, living, breathing, drinking, and singing, party hotspot. Think Mardi Gras, sans the beads and

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bare bodies. Instead, everyone dresses up in Halloween-type fashion, with the only rule being: the more outlandish, creative, colourful, and clever the costume, the better.

Speaking of clothing apparel, if there’s one thing you must remember to pack, it’s your best pair of drinking shoes. Carnival, like Mardi Gras, is if anything a celebration of excess, and if you can’t stick out the night to watch the sunrise on the beach, at least make sure not to crash in or near Plaza San Juan de Dios, where La Taronda (The Thunder), the daily fireworks show, is held. Keep in mind: fireworks plus hangover equals ear-splitting torture, so use your head. The Cádiz celebration is also centred around song, and one needn’t look far for the goofy groups of chirigotas, singing their humorous parodies on politics, religion, and celebrity gossip. The residents of Cádiz are known for their sense of humour, so if you’re lucky enough to understand the lyrics, be a kind soul and translate for us linguistically challenged folk.

All about Cádiz

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ired, tipsy and bad tempered is the best way to describe an ex-girlfriend and me after spending an hour and a half walking in crooked circles around the old town of Cádiz trying to find our way back to our hostel. My orientation skills disappear when the sun goes down and everything looks different to me, and the beer that had gone down so well after a long day of sightseeing and sunbathing had rubbed away any last hint of a memory of how to get to our accommodation. It was pure luck that finally brought us gratefully to where we were staying. If I had to take the blame for getting lost, then my ex had to shoulder the responsibility for the schoolgirl error of leaving both the window and insect screen open for mosquitoes while we were out. I recognise the high probability that it was a fatigue-induced hallucination, but I’m sure I had to ask some of them to move so that I could get into bed. Despite that June Saturday night’s internal GPS malfunction a few years ago, I returned from the weekend in Cádiz with the conviction that I’d discovered an absolute gem. The oldest continuously lived-in city in Western Europe, to wheel out the trivia. Cádiz was founded by the Phoenicians around 1100BC and has passed through the hands of the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and finally the Castilian Spanish claimed the city in the thirteenth century. Its strategic location and suitability as a port ensured its importance as a trading post from the start. Its unique geography in almost being an island, it is actually a peninsula joined to the continent by a very thin strip of land (or isthmus), made it very difficult to attack by land. Christopher Columbus set sail from the port on his second and fourth voyages to the Americas and, from that point, Cádiz began to command an important role as a main hub of transatlantic traffic. The city was one of the first in the world to suffer from state-sponsored terrorism: Ottoman privateers tried several raids on Cádiz in the sixteenth century and the English pirate/naval hero Sir Francis Drake managed to capture the harbour and six ships, sink 31 other ships and decimate the port’s stores in 1587. The beginning of the eighteenth century, however, was when Cádiz really hit the jackpot. The increasing size of galleons

and the formation of sandbars along the River Guadalquivir made it no longer viable to continue Seville’s monopoly on New World trade, so Cádiz stepped up to become the home of the Spanish Treasure Fleet and therefore become one of the richest cities in the world. Both Carnival and most of Cádiz’s interesting buildings come from the golden age of the city. Their Carnival was meant to emulate and rival the world famous celebrations of the time in Venice; the investment in serious partying is what set the tradition that carries on today. The cathedral is my favourite in Spain (sorry to all the rest), probably because the 116 years it took to build and the subsequent mix of styles make it so unique (and I love the giant trees brought back from the Americas which stand next to it). The plazas in the old town are attractive and give the breathing space the tightly-packed area needs. The old Customs House and the Admiral House buildings you have to see to understand the kind of wealth that Spain squeezed from its colonies. Another landmark, more for its significance than its beauty this time, is the monument to the Spanish Constitution of 1812- one of the first modern liberal constitutions in the world, written by the Free Spanish Parliament in Cádiz as the port was one of the few Spanish cities not to fall to the Bonapartes’ forces and was a main centre of resistance to the French as the Spanish fought for their independence. The cámara oscura in the Tavira Tower is a worthwhile visit to understand Cádiz today. Just a few storeys high, the tower’s pinhole camera-style telescope and convex lens command views of the whole city and the Bay of Cádiz. That in itself is cool to see, but the listed-building status of most of the old town, strict construction limits and no more space to build is what has kept the place from turning into another Andalusian beach resort. It has two fantastic beaches and there is regular Spanish tourism (The Costa de la Luz has remained a mainly Spanish destination in comparison to the Mediterranean coastline), but Cádiz will never become a Marbella, Torremolinos or Benidorm. In fact, this lack of possibility for development is what limits the city’s economy and causes many young Gaditanos to try their luck elsewhere. In selfish terms for the visitor, this is what keeps Cádiz a wonderful destination for a weekend or short holiday. Just remember how to get back to your hotel.

So fear not the endless monotony of the modern day work week, and take no heed of conspiratory calendars. Carnival is coming – what more could one want to wipe away those wintertime woes?

feb 09

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