The Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, through its Fiestas department, has unveiled the poster for the 2027 carnival during a lively event in Plaza del Príncipe, featuring performances by Puerto Rican singer Tonny Tun Tun and the Maquinaria Band. The winning design, titled ‘the legacy of an empire’, was created by Nareme Melián, who secured victory with the highest score in a dual voting system, earning a prize of €12,000.
Melián, a local artist who has previously designed carnival posters in 2018 and 2023, has now won this prestigious award three times. Following the announcement, the Mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, publicly congratulated Melián and highlighted the significant interest surrounding the carnival, particularly in the selection of the poster, which remains one of the festival's key symbols.
Bermúdez noted that over 15,000 valid votes were cast in the popular consultation, which was highly competitive. Javier Caraballero, the Councillor for Fiestas, also congratulated Melián and acknowledged the other artists involved, stating that any of the five proposals would have made an excellent poster, as they all captured the essence of the festival and its chosen theme. He added that Melián's work would serve as a fantastic introduction to the upcoming edition, themed ‘Eternal Rome: the empire of the carnival’.
The event in Plaza del Príncipe began at 20:30 and featured a preview of the 2027 carnival, with live performances from Tonny Tun Tun and the Maquinaria Band, who entertained the audience for four hours with a selection of songs that are part of the carnival's soundtrack.
The winning poster received 30% of the 15,758 votes cast on the website www.carnavaldetenerife.com, translating to 4,731 votes. Following Melián, the other top contenders were Juliana Serrano with 4,430 votes, Eduardo Puyol with 2,778, Ayoze with 1,917, and Lucía Casanova with 1,902 votes. The voting process, which was open from 19:30 on 5 October to 19:30 on 12 October, allowed only one vote per IP address. Throughout the process, the voting remained blind, without any indication of the support each poster received.
The total scores for the preselected works, combining jury and popular votes, were as follows: Nareme Melián (9.48); Juliana Serrano (8.17); Eduardo Puyol (5.1); Ayoze Felipe (4.93); and Lucía Casanova (3.76). The professional jury appointed by the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council included Humberto Gonar, a journalist and carnival chronicler; Santi Castro, a carnival designer; Enrique Camacho, artistic director of the 2027 carnival galas; Yeray Piñero, director of the 2027 carnival competitions; Erik Air, a muralist and graffiti artist; Astrid González, an art historian and educator; Adjomar González Pérez, a graphic designer; and Patricia Hodgson, a fine arts graduate and teacher.
