Carnival is not exclusive to Spain, but it is a big festive period during which people get time off from work and students get time off from school. It is also called Antroxu here. The amount of time off can vary depending on the region. For example, I was given an additional two days off for festivities in Asturias whereas some other regions received a full week off. Asturias does not have the biggest carnival, but they do know how to celebrate it.
While here in Spain I learned about how big Carnival is. The day before carnival break, I walked into school and it felt like Halloween. All the teachers were dressed in 70's attire and the school was decorated as such. They had old sofas set up and a tv from that time period. In another part of the school they had it decorated as a kitchen with a fullsize stove and refrigerator.
Many students also followed the 70's theme and dressed funky, many of them having curly wigs on and pointing at me saying that they have the same hair now. Others were dressed like superheroes or many other costume options.
You might be wondering, how is carnival different from Halloween? I'll tell you. The way Halloween is viewed in Spain is that it is scary. Halloween is associated with horror in Spain. All the costumes you will see are zombies, vampires, evil clowns or similar scary things.
