Los Indianos – how the carnival is celebrated on the island of La Palma

Cultural Corner, New, Translation17 February, 20203 April, 2020

One of Spain’s best-loved fiestas, the carnival, is about to take place! Just like every year, it’s a time for colour, music, festivities and above all, having a great time.

They know a lot about this in the Canary Islands, where the carnival has a very important place in their hearts and their traditions.

Today we will be taking a look at a celebration that is perhaps not so well known to the rest of the world: Los Indianos of Santa Cruz, La Palma.

This famous tradition is celebrated on the island of La Palma coinciding with the Carnival Monday, every year since the 19^th century. This celebration commemorates the time when many islanders emigrated to the Americas, then known as Las Indias, specifically to Cuba, in search of a new life and wealth for their families, who eagerly awaited their return home.

On Carnival Monday, the streets of Santa Cruz de La Palma become the alleys of Havana and everyone dresses in white with the traditional clothes from that time, to remember all their ancestors who returned to the island with bags full of riches, ostentatious clothes and of course, tobacco and rum. One of the most striking aspects of the festival is when the locals throw talcum powder at each other to the rhythm of punto cubano, a combination of Cuban and Canary Islands music resulting from the encounter between emigrants and locals back in the 16^th century.

Photo: Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de La Palma

And, we can’t talk about Los Indianos without mentioning their most important character, La Negra Tomasa. This character starts off the party in the morning, simulating the arrival of the boat that transported people who had emigrated to The West Indies to the capital of La Palma, then touring Calle Real and Avenida Los Indianos.

Although the starting time for Los Indianos is officially 12 pm, many people can be seen early in the morning dressed in old-fashioned white clothing, taking a walk around the city or starting the day in a bar with friends and family. After disembarking, the Los Indianos parade moves through the city from Avenida de Los Indianos to the town hall. Once they arrive, after a brief announcement by the local authorities, dances and music begin all over the capital, which won’t stop until dawn.

Los Indianos is probably one of the most unique carnivals in all of Spain, with more than 80,000 people taking part, including locals, neighbours from other islands and cruises that pass by La Palma, intended to coincide with this day.

This year (2020) the big day will take place 24^th February. So, if you want to take part in a truly unique celebration, we encourage you to take the opportunity to visit the island for Los Indianos.

Translation for tourism: The definitive guide

Translation20 January, 20203 April, 2020

In the tourism sector, translation is a basic need, and the companies that operate in this area know that only too well. Whether they’re hotels, travel agencies or any other kind of business related to tourism, these companies want to reach the highest possible number of people, in as many countries as they can. And how can you reach them, unless you speak their language?

Tourism translation, quality makes the difference!

Translation14 September, 201713 May, 2020

At the risk of stating the obvious, most of us know what a challenge it can be travelling or merely being in places where our native language is not spoken. The feeling this inspires could best be summed up as being a ‘fish out of water’, flapping around uselessly as we try to get out point across, in much the same way as said fish! It is not only us non-foreign language speakers that go through this uncomfortable experience, but of course all those non-English speakers that we come into contact with, whether they be friends (or potential friends), business contacts or those poor souls charged with making our holiday a fun experience.

How a poor translation can mean bad business for restaurant owners

Translation, Translation services7 February, 201713 May, 2020

Look up “translation fails” on the internet, and you’ll immediately see why this is always good for a laugh. There are so many hilarious, unintentional bloopers out there that it’s a bit difficult to digest them all, and you certainly wouldn’t want to eat in a restaurant that serves these mistakes!

SEO Translation in Travel and Tourism

SEO Translation, Translation, Translation services8 August, 201613 May, 2020

Translation agencies and companies who specialise in SEO and website translation, such as BigTranslation, thrive on offering their services to clients in the Travel and Tourism sector. This will surely continue to flourish as more and more languages across the globe become more in demand amongst translation agencies and the internationalisation of companies increases.

Travel and Tourism: An Indispensable Industry

If there is one sector which requires the translation of texts the most in order to guarantee success, it is without a doubt the travel and tourism sector! As the whole nature of the industry is based on reaching out to all languages and cultures in order to encourage people to travel across the globe, it follows that the facilitation of communication and translation of texts is an essential part of this process. Hotel websites, brochures, magazines, tourist guides and restaurant menus are just a few examples of the copious amount of documents which require translations in this industry. Translation agencies and companies who specialise in SEO and website translation, such as BigTranslation, thrive on offering their services to clients in the Travel and Tourism sector. This will surely continue to flourish as more and more languages across the globe become more in demand amongst translation agencies and the internationalisation of companies increases.

Multilingual SEO: A Travelling Tool

One aspect which enables the expansion of the Travel and Tourism sector in particular is the use of SEO translation in travel and tourism websites. Many clients expect that the translation services they pay for will include multilingual SEO, as it has become such a necessary tool in this translation field. The more languages a translation agency can offer and the more it can expand a travel agency globally with SEO translation, the more likely it will be for them to gain work in this sector, as it is massively beneficial to travel and tourism companies. The first thing most people do when planning or booking a trip is turn to the internet; more often than not they will type in keywords and phrases in Google in order to quickly find what they are looking for. They will then be presented with a list of sites in their native language, and this is where SEO translation comes in. If translators are able to make their target text available to the desired audience through the use of specific words and phrases, the travel company is more likely to appear when certain words are entered into the search engine. One of the reasons it is also essential to use professional translators for travel and tourism websites is that companies need to be 100% sure of the site’s content before allowing customers to view information. Similarly, the customer will want to be certain that they understand the information they have read on the site before handing over their bank details or any kind of personal information. Particularly due to the cultural differences and clashes that can arise when translating from one language to another, it is essential that the translator of these texts is a native professional of the target language to guarantee accuracy of meaning and to avoid misunderstandings for the clients.

The translator of travel and tourism websites will essentially act as the representative of the company abroad, in an attempt to attract as wide a target audience in their native language as possible. For this reason, many travel and tourism companies only employ translators who specialise in this particular translation field, as they need to be familiar with the style of language used in order to attract customers and to increase the SEO of the company. At BigTranslation, our expertise in website translation and SEO translation, along with our large team of native professional translators who specialise in various different fields, we are an ideal translation agency for globalising travel companies and giving them the perfect translation quality they need!