* Sitges Carnival 2006: Thursday 23rd February to Wednesday 1st March 2006 *
Parades on Sunday 26th and Tuesday 28th February

Carnival in Sitges is a riotous affair. For one week only locals and visitors alike buff up their gold lame thongs, fluff up their feather boas and head on down to gay old Sitges for one of Spain's wildest parties.

The date of Carnival varies according to the date of Easter in any given year, but in Sitges it always starts on a Thursday with the ritual bringing back to life of the Carnival King on the seafront, an event not to be missed.

The following Sunday sees the first of two parades in which the confraternities of Sitges are given the opportunity to show off their elaborate costumes, dance routines and acres and acres of bare flesh. A seemingly endless procession of colourful floats, complete with their own sound system and on-board bar facility, takes a good few hours to navigate Sitges' narrow streets via the centre of town and along the promenade.

But that's not all. Two days later on Tuesday - the penultimate day - comes the second parade, which if anything is even wilder, gayer and kitscher than the first, with drag queens from all over the world camping it up like there's no tomorrow. If you're thinking of getting an early night, forget it. The parades are followed by all-night street parties with the bars open until the very last tranny has tottered her way home on broken stilletoes.

On Wednesday, the last day of Carnival, the King and his Queen fight a battle in the centre of town with the Spirit of Lent, who ritually murders them. Their bodies are then transported back to the beach for re-burial until the following year's week of mayhem.

Unique to Sitges is the mourning procession which follows the cortege of their recently-deceased Majesties - dozens of drag queens in full, jet-black mourning gear and head-dresses big enough to stun an ox. A-weeping and a-wailing, screaming and howling, they clutch at each other for support in their operatic grief and progress through the applauding crowds as Carnival ends.

Over the top? You bet your sweet ass.