The sight of flying and splattered tomatoes takes place in Buñol near Valencia every year, its initiation appears a bit vague but this fiesta is recreated on the last Wednesday of August and for a supervised hour thousands of gatherers throw tons of tomatoes at each other and everything!
The whole fiesta takes place over several days but the main tomato fight is on Wednesday morning beginning at 11am. It may look like total chaos and you'd be right, but there are some rules given by the local town hall to ensure the safety of everyone.
Rules of the Tomato Fight
- No throwing before the starter bang.
- No bottles or any kind of objects which could provoke an accident.
- You mustn't tear t-shirts.
- Tomatoes have to be crushed before throwing so they can't hurt anybody.
- Respect the lorries which carry the tomatoes.
- You must stop throwing tomatoes when the second banger is fired.
If this sounds like your cup of tea then go have the messiest sort of fun available, this fiesta has a record of no mishaps – just plenty of squashed tomatoes!
Buñol is a small town with a usual population of around 9,000 people, on La Tomatina day this increases to around 30,000 people. Buñol has very little to offer in the way of accommodation and the nearest main town of Valencia is about 40km away. Due to the increasing popularity of the town and its fiesta, it´s wise to book accommodation well in advance of the tomato fight as it´s not only fiesta time but main holiday season too.
Trains run from Valencia at 8.08, 9.08, 10.08 and the trip takes about 50 minutes but remember that thousands of other people will also be trying to get to the same place. The train times can be checked here.
Don´t forget if you´re planning to fight with tomatoes, some clean clothes will be needed or you won't be allowed to get on that return train! Showers are provided near the river.
La Tomatina – the history
According to some historians the origin of the fight stems from a practical joke.
A musician who was playing and dancing badly in the town square had vegetables thrown at him. The surounding people snatched tomatoes from a nearby market stall and threw them too, which then rapidly progressed in the free for all battle, which is celebrated today.
The other version of how La Tomatina began says that in 1945 the town plaza was crowded with people watching the Gigantes y Cabezudos parade literally giants and big heads- massive carnival figures with distorted heads.
Some of the youths deciding to join the parade began pushing through the crowd. One of them fell over and got up punching those around, which soon became a brawl. Crates of tomatoes nearby became missiles until the police broke it up. The damages had to be paid for but the youths didn't forget - they met again the following year in the town square with their own tomatoes, had another battle and were again stopped by the police.
The authorities put a ban on the celebration, and in true Spanish style it has continued ever since!
