Buñol ups security for famous Tomatina festival: 22,000 fruit-throwing tourists to arrive next Wednesday
Thursday, August 24, 2017 @ 9:12 PM
A WEEK today (Wednesday) will see the population of a small Valencia province market town double as visitors from every continent hurl ripe tomatoes at each other – and security has been upped drastically in light of the Barcelona terror attacks.
Two lorryloads of salad fruit – 160 tonnes in total – will end up coating the faces and clothing of thousands of Japanese and Australian tourists, who are some of the most regular at the unusual festival in Buñol.
A total of 22,000 people will be on the street next Wednesday wearing goggles and their worst clothes – in a town where the resident population is around 10,000.
This year, security was already going to be increased due to the sheer size of the festival, known as the Tomatina, and in line with Spain's terror alert level 4 which was introduced two years ago as a tool to enable the public to stay safe.
But plans have been revised further since the massacres in Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona province), and a total of 740 police, firefighters, Civil Protection volunteers and paramedics will be on duty.
And this is not the final figure – more may be brought in at the last minute.
In recent years, Buñol council has been charging visitors €10 for tickets to the Tomatina, given how much it has grown, in order to limit numbers and help with funding.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com