Mojácar brought its 2023 carnival to a close on Ash Wednesday with the traditional burial of the sardine, which also marks the beginning of Lent.
Following the Holy Mass and the imposition of ashes at the Mojácar Santa María Parish Church, local residents headed for the Multi-Uses Centre, where a massive procession accompanied the deceased sardine to the Plaza Nueva, the final point of the mortuary route and where its final destination awaited it.
For this year, a representation of the seabed and of some of its species served as a framework for a sarcophagus for the sardine at the same time as a warning of the sad end that our seas could suffer if they are not properly looked after.
The funeral cortege was made up of many mourners and the grieving, as well as by the main local authorities, who with a great outpouring of grief on the part of all those present, accompany the sardine among laments and litanies, an amusing custom in the locality.
It couldn’t be without the Municipal Music Band, which as is the tradition, with its repertoire provides the accompaniment along the route and which has the job of bringing the Mojácar carnival to a close
Nor could there be missing, to compensate for so much pain and to regain strength once the burial of the sardine is over, chocolate with churros for everyone there, which Mojácar Council offered as a farewell to carnival 2023.
As has become customary, Mojácar celebrated its carnival by starting these special days with the very youngest, who took the leading role in a fun and multi-coloured street parade.
The pupils of the Bartolomé Flores Public School, starting from the school, went around the streets of Mojácar to the Plaza del Frontón accompanied by puppets from the TV and other fun characters.
As they were also special guests, senior citizens were encouraged to take part, along with the Mojácar Red Cross, with another of the floats that made up the Mojácar Carnival mass parade which ended at the Commercial Centre. A parade that is surpassed every year for participation and the quality of the floats and the costumes, and which is able to bring together from the very youngest to the oldest, dance schools, troupes and clubs.
The sardine is buried, but not the enthusiasm for carnival, deeply rooted in the locality, and all the local residents are already thinking about the next edition and the new costumes for 2024.
