Part of the success of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival lies in those who have dedicated their time and effort to get under the skin of illustrious characters as Charlot, La Lecherita, Miss Peggy, Cantinflas, Fidel Castro, Harpo, Doña Croqueta, Don Ciruelo, the Caballero de la Palmatoria, El Cura del Carnaval or Chiquito. This last role corresponded to Antonio Rivero from 1995 to 2013. A symbol of the great chicharrera party who died at the age of 87.
His friend and companion, Santiago Díaz, who represents in great detail ‘Harpo Marx‘ at the Carnival, explains to DIARIO DE AVISOS that Antonio “was a very loved person.” And he remembers with special affection how “he spent almost all his time in the market, telling jokes about him half disguised as him, as I say.”
Díaz specifies that Chiquito from Tenerife went to carnivals for 8 years, until, unfortunately, he became ill. “We were all friends. Companions. And we have maintained contact with his family,” he notes.
Antonio Rivero’s friendliness and closeness allowed him to win the public’s affection practically from the beginning. “He started a year after Chiquito de la Calzada appeared on television. They told him that he looked alike,” details Santiago Díaz. “Every year a couple of new shirts were made for the carnivals. And, sometimes,” he says, laughing, “we had to tell him: ‘Antonio, don’t always tell the same jokes.’
The originality of Chiquito chicharrero and his ability to get into the role of Gregorio Esteban Sánchez Fernández, the real Chiquito de la Calzada, led him to create his own style within the character. “He told jokes about him imitating Chiquito. He was walking down the street playing the character. “He walked the same way,” says Díaz, who this year celebrates his 55th anniversary of Carnival and that he will continue to do so “until his body can take it.”
