New Age Limit for Puerto de la Cruz Pageant Reignites Debate Over Beauty Contests
New age restrictions for the July festival queen pageant in Puerto de la Cruz have reignited local debate over the relevance and evolving standards of beauty contests in Tenerife.
New rules for the July festival queen pageant in Puerto de la Cruz have sparked a fresh debate over the role and relevance of local beauty contests. According to El Día, the local council has introduced an age limit of 30 for applicants—a decision that highlights the lack of consistent standards across Tenerife’s municipalities.
The new guidelines, published on March 22, state that contestants must be born between 1995 and 2009. This sets the age range for the July 9 gala between 17 and 30. Anyone wishing to enter has until May 22 to submit their application.
Beyond age, the rules require candidates to prove they live in or are from the municipality as of July 1, 2024. Previous winners of this pageant or the town’s International Carnival are ineligible to compete. The jury will judge contestants based on their appearance, attitude, and personal presentation.
This decision comes as beauty pageants face increasing public criticism. While the adult Carnival queen pageant in Santa Cruz de Tenerife only requires contestants to be adults—with no upper age limit—other towns, such as Candelaria and Icod de los Vinos, have scrapped these events entirely, arguing they promote outdated, sexist views focused solely on physical looks.
The Puerto de la Cruz City Council has not explained the reasoning behind the new age cap. However, this is not the first time the town has imposed such a restriction; a similar rule was introduced in 2013, though that version capped the age at 24. The inconsistent rules across the Canary Islands reflect an ongoing struggle to balance long-standing festive traditions with modern views on how women are represented in public life.