Carnival: Ritual Matar la Culebra

The ritual Matar la Culebra, also known as Mataculebra, is part of the Puerto de la Cruz Carnival as one of the most distinctive expressions of its cultural heritage, combining music, dance, and theatrical performance in a tradition linked to migration folklore that arrived in the Islands in the late 19th century and that symbolizes, through the killing of the serpent, the victory over evil and the historical memory associated with migratory processes, turning the town’s streets into a stage for a popular expression that brings together identity, history, and the preservation of Puerto de la Cruz’s cultural legacy.