Encamp Youth Dramatically Rescue Carnival King from Canillo Rivals

Encamp's youth reclaimed their Carnival King on Tuesday evening in a dramatic rescue operation at Plaça del Consell, reigniting the longstanding rivalry with Canillo's arlequins.

Members of the Festa Commission stormed the square, firing shots into the air and advancing in formation like an elite squad to hunt down the thief. Rumors of the King's disappearance had swirled through Encamp's streets since Saturday, with suspicions immediately falling on rivals from Canillo.

The search ended quickly: the "arlequín pig"—a mock intruder—was found in a nearby apartment and hurled from a window to the ground below. Crowds erupted in cheers, singing Encamp's traditional anthem to celebrate the victory.

This figure differed from the earlier controversial Carnival effigy featuring Jewish symbolism, which organizers set aside to focus solely on the arlequins-versus-Encampans parody. Neither it nor the polémica doll will undergo the night's procedure or feature in Wednesday's burning.

Once on the ground, the captured King skipped formal trials common elsewhere. Instead, commission members loaded it into an ambulance for a mock surgery. A team, wielding more humor than scalpels, will extract pork cuts stuffed inside—remnants from Sunday morning's slaughter—symbolizing the character's death to feed the community.

The operation paves the way for Carnival's close on Ash Wednesday, when flames will consume the remains and end a particularly turbulent reign.