BUÑOL, Spain — Thousands of revelers descended on Buñol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight, where they painted the small Spanish town red with up to 165 tons of overripe tomatoes.
Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at the revelers — who, in turn, hurled them at one another. Their white shirts soon turned pink and red while pop songs blasted from speakers. At one point, police appeared to use pepper spray to disperse an area of the crowd, but a festive vibe quickly resumed.
Gen. Francisco Franco and the 1945 Origins of La Tomatina
The messy melee takes place for over an hour in the town, where buildings were covered with tarps ahead of the festivities. Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival traces its origins to a food fight in 1945. La Tomatina became an annual tradition before Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco banned it in the 1950s. Televised media attention in the 1980s helped turn the festival into a national event, and eventually, an international attraction.
More than 20,000 people had been expected to take part this year, with the Spanish news agency EFE reporting this week that roughly 40% of participants over the past three years have been tourists from outside Spain. Organisers expect 22,000 visitors from around the world. Seven trucks were filled with 150,000kg of tomatoes in the Spanish town of Buñol in preparation for the traditional ‘La Tomatina’ food fight. Trucks that are normally used for mining were loaded with around 150 tons of tomatoes. The tomatoes were dumped onto the town’s main street; and for about an hour, participants hurled these tomatoes at one another while pop songs blasted from speakers.
Sergio Galarza Details the 150 Tons of Tomatoes from Badajoz
First Deputy Mayor Sergio Galarza, who’s in charge of La Tomatina, stated that they had used 120 tons of tomatoes last year, and that this year the amount was 150 tons brought in from Badajoz just like the previous year, adding that they needed seven trucks to load and deliver all those tomatoes. The tomatoes were grown for the festival and not meant for human consumption.
There has been a notable jump in visitors from India in recent years, following the 2011 Bollywood movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
(You Only Live Once
), in which three friends take a road-trip through Spain during an extended bachelor party. The film recreated La Tomatina, introducing the festival to many Indians.
The movie is what first drew Romail Khokhar, a 27-year-old from Mumbai, to Buñol. He was there on Wednesday morning, eager to participate in the food fight for his third time. Khokhar, who owns a clothing business, expressed that he felt really great actually, calling it the best festival he had ever had and mentioning that he enjoyed it a lot there.
Mazhar and Sanya Khan, both 40, were likewise inspired by the film. Mazhar Khan remarked that it was fantastic and absolutely well-managed, adding that they were from India and that it was their first time being in La Tomatina, noting that it had been a dream for over a decade.
The movie’s appeal isn’t limited to Indians. It also drew Joanna Wytrzyszczewska from Poland. Wytrzyszczewska, 32, remarked that it was way more crazy than they had expected, explaining that they came because they were inspired by a movie. It was be
Similar tomato-flinging events have taken place in Florida, London, Amsterdam, the Colombian town of Sutamarchán and Hyderabad, India.
Non-Local Attendees Pay 15 Euros for Ticket Entry
Non-local attendees pay 15 euros ($17.50) for a ticket. The first and only rule: Squash your tomatoes before hurling them to avoid injuries. No glass bottles or hard objects were allowed. Still, many participants don swimming goggles and earplugs for protection. Once the hour is up, the sound of a cannon blast marks the end of festivities and crowds wash off at communal showers nearby. The town’s streets are later hosed down.
Though stains on clothes can be permanent, the tomatoes’ citric acid acts as a cleaning agent, often leaving Buñol’s streets cleaner than before.