Take The World And Paint It Red At La Tomatina In Spain
Savour the tangy sweetness of life at this annual tomato-fuelled Spanish bonanza
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara gave us many travel goals by becoming the poster film for the perfect Spain adventure. As the movie’s trio traverses Spanish towns and coasts, we follow their journey intently and their quick detour to Buñol, near Valencia introduced many of us to the mind-boggling festival of La Tomatina. As thousands descend to this town for a day of fun on the last Wednesday in August, there is also a fun story of how this Tomato Festival came to be celebrated in Spain.
La Tomatina is held in Bunol every year. Picture: Shutterstock
How The Tomato Madness Began
While there is no official word on how this festival began, some stories date the origin of this slush fest back to1945. A parade of Giants and Big Heads culminated in a massive brawl, with both sides picking up anything and everything as a makeshift weapon. Some tomatoes kept on a vegetable cart were also used by people to their advantage, and well, the rest is history. While the festival was banned for a brief period, it was reinstated on popular demand (and a few protests).
Nonetheless, Spain’s biggest food fight sees the quiet town of Bunol, with a population of roughly 10,000 swell in number by the thousands. While earlier the number of people attending the event were pegged at around 45,000, the event is now ticketed to control the crowd to 20,000 attendees each year.
Some stories date the origin of this slush fest back to1945. Picture: Shutterstock
The Fun Begins
La Tomatina has a set of exhilarating traditions and rituals that make it an unforgettable experience. The party starts with the “palo jabón,” a zany contest where participants scramble up a slippery pole to grab a tantalising ham hanging at the top. Once the ham is snatched (or not, doesn’t matter for long), it’s game on! Trucks packed with ripe, squishy tomatoes roll into the streets, and the tomato battle begins.
But hold your horses, there are rules in this juicy chaos. Squashing the tomatoes before throwing them is the name of the game to minimise injuries. And before launching a tomato torpedo, it’s customary to shout ‘Tomate!’ to alert your target. For one hour, the streets become a tomato-flinging frenzy, painting the town red in the most literal sense.
For one hour every year, the streets of Bunol see a tomato-flinging frenzy. Picture: Shutterstock
After the hour-long tomato frenzy, the streets are cleaned by fire trucks, while travellers find water at the nearby Bunol river or a few kind locals help hose them down before they head home.
La Tomatina is not simply an annual festival; it is the perfect example of Spanish zest for life and adventure. While there have been regular concerns about wastage of food, this food festival continues to draw travellers to Spain, year after year.
La Tomatina 2023: 30th of August
La Tomatina is celebrated on the last Wednesday of August, each year. Picture: https://latomatina.info/
