Time to bury the sardine!

As we all know, here in Spain we just love a party however bizarre the reason. Try this one for size! The entierro de la sardina involves the ceremonial burying of a sardine to mark the end of carnival and the beginning of Lent.

It takes place on Ash Wednesday across the whole country and is steeped in religious meaning. In Spain the sardine represents the past, so the act of burying one symbolises saying goodbye to the hard winter months and facing the future with hope and optimism.  In some locations the burial is accompanied by a mock funeral with a procession of men and women in black and even burning sardine effigies, but there is always dancing, beer, wine and tapas involved as a final blow-out before Lent.

Images: Ben Ostrower from Unsplash as feature image and Alma de Pueblos