The streets of a town in eastern Spain were awash with red juice as people threw overripe tomatoes at each other at the traditional Tomatina festival which drew crowds.
Around 22,000 participants in white clothing splattered with tomato pulp took part in the frenzy that grips Bunol, 40km west of Valencia, every year in the last week of August. Seven trucks delivered 150 tons of ripe tomatoes, which were distributed to festival participants, many of whom came from abroad.
All those who do not live in Bunol pay a fee of 15 euros, while local residents enjoy it for free. ”We love tomatoes! That’s why we decided to come and we had a great time,” said Taylor, who came from Australia, adding that she and her friends were “going to make spaghetti with sauce”.
The start of the hour-long “battle” was marked by firecrackers set off after one of the contestants managed to climb a slippery, piled-up pole to grab a ham hanging from the top of the pole. After the battle was over, a cleaning crew armed with water hoses was sent to clear the streets of tomatoes. Tomatoes grown specifically for the festival are considered too acidic for human consumption.
According to Tomatina’s official website, the festival was founded in 1945. It all started with a fight when young men who tried to see the parade up close knocked down one of the participants. Several people took tomatoes from a nearby stand and used them as improvised missiles until the police restored order.
The following year, the young people organized the “battle” again, and some even brought their own tomatoes. The event was briefly banned in the 1950s under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, but resumed in 1959 with certain rules.
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