Which Ash Wednesday event officially ends Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival?

The Burial of the sardine officially ends Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival on Ash Wednesday.

Known in Spanish as the entierro de la sardina, the event is a mock funeral procession featuring a giant sardine effigy, mourners, widows, and deliberately theatrical displays of grief. It culminates in the burning of the symbolic sardine, marking the close of Carnival’s excess and the arrival of Lent.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, so the ceremony’s timing gives it a clear religious and theatrical meaning: the festive season is symbolically buried before the period of penitence begins. The event also parodies funeral and Catholic rituals, using mourning as a comic Carnival performance.

A possible source of confusion is that Santa Cruz’s celebrations continue during the Piñata weekend after Ash Wednesday. That later weekend extends the festivities, but the Burial of the Sardine is the traditional ceremony that officially closes the main Carnival on Ash Wednesday.