VALENCIA'S messiest festival attracted tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world yesterday (Wednesday) for the largest-known food-fight in Europe.
The Tomatina, held in Buñol – about 40 kilometres west of Valencia city – on the last Wednesday in August every year sees its population of 20,000 double or treble as tourists from as far afield as the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, China and Japan join in hurling ripe tomatoes at each other until the streets are literally inches deep in juice and pulp.
Following a week's worth of street parade, fireworks, concerts and food stalls which make up Buñol's annual summer fiesta, the Tomatina kicks off at 11.00hrs when trucks carrying up to 1,200 tonnes of tomatoes unload their cargo onto the street.
A flare goes off to mark the start of the fruit battle, before which nobody is allowed to touch the tomatoes.
The next hour is a frenzy of salad-fighting, but strict rules apply – even though it does not appear that way to the outsider.
Tomatoes must be squashed before they are thrown, no other items may be hurled about, glass and bottles are not allowed in the fruit-throwing area, and no pushing, shoving or ripping at T-shirts is allowed.
Also, once the second flare goes off at noon, everyone must stop tomato-throwing immediately.
Bystanders are unlikely to escape being pelted with the odd squashed tomato, so anyone wanting to take photos should put their phone or camera in a clear plastic bag to protect it....
Read more at thinkPSAIN.com