It is said to be the world’s largest tomato battle.
Tens of thousands of people hurled truckloads of tomatoes at each other on Wednesday, sending knee-deep rivers of tomato sauce down the streets of the small Spanish town of Buñol during its annual food fight, the Tomatina.
At noon, municipal trucks dumped about 130 tonnes of ripe, juicy plum tomatoes at the feet of adrenaline-charged crowds in the town’s main square. Within minutes, the area was covered in red slime and clouds of tomato sauce filled the air.
A rocket fired from a balcony signalled the fight’s end one hour later, after which giddy participants hosed each other clean.
A record 40 000 people took part this year’s Tomatina, held yearly on the last Wednesday in August, city mayor Fernando Giraldos said. It is said to be the world’s largest tomato fight.
Local lore says it began in the mid-1940s with a food battle that broke out between youngsters near a vegetable stand on the town square in Buñol, 300km south-east of Madrid. The next year, they met again, this time pelting passers-by. — Sapa-AP