Villanueva y Geltrú

The Carnival tradition is strong in Vilanova. Thanks to an exception during the Franco dictatorship, people here were allowed to put on fancy dresses although his regime otherwise was not too fond of neither satire, nor people wearing masks.

But traditions do not make the carnival last longer. Tonight we might hear a light noise from those who celebrate el Vidalot (meaning something like La Dolce Vita). That is Vilanova’s modest closing parade and nothing like the wild party which is now going on in Sitges.

Before those who take part in el Vidalot took to the streets, they had the chance to participate in the carnival costume competition. The ceremony in itself was quite entertaining and met higher standards than most of the participants. When it started, there were two Catalan speaking presenters, but they immediately saw their show crashed by two chic Spanish speaking people who wanted to present as well. The newcomers were shocked to have ended up in Villanueva (the town's official name during the Franco years), since their intention had been to go to Sitges. After all, it is only five minutes away from here.

In the competition class ‘satire’, I was happy to see my personal favourite be the winner: the one-euro-store, or el xinès, as they are called here. There are plenty of them in the centre of Vilanova and that probably says a thing or two about our town.