Tomatina: Buñol's annual salad fight brings in visitors from all over the world
Thursday, August 29, 2019 @ 9:55 PM
ONCE again and for the 74th time, the streets of Buñol are gushing with ketchup – the world-famous Tomatina festival took place this morning and gives a new definition to the term 'painting the town red'.
Buñol, which lies about 20 kilometres west of Valencia, becomes the scene of an inter-continental battle on the last Wednesday in August, where locals and visitors from as far away as Japan, South Korea and Australia actually pay for the privilege of spending an hour being pelted with salad.
The planet's biggest tomato fight and one of Spain's largest August fiestas kicked off as usual at 10.50 when a firework was let off as the starting signal – before which nobody is allowed near the fruit – and then six lorries full to bursting with ripe tomatoes poured their loads into the main square.
This year, 145 tonnes of tomatoes were hurled among the 22,000 – of whom 9,000 were Buñol residents, a town with just over 10,000 inhabitants – most of whom were wearing their oldest T-shirts, since after the Tomatina, they will never be able to put them on again.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com