What Is Spain's La Tomatina Festival?
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100 Metric Tons of Over-Ripened Tomatoes Are Sacrificed
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Thousands Of People Attend
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The Entire Event Depends on a Ham Atop a Greased Pole
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No One Knows How it Began
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Franco Wanted It Gone
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Valencia Plays A Large Part
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Local Shopkeepers Are Prepared
Every year, the Internet becomes awash with photos of revelers in tomato, as Bunol, Spain's La Tomatina Festival turns the town's streets red once again. But why do those
crazy tourists
take part in an enormous food fight every August? Here's what you need to know about the annual event.
Bunol's Plaza del Pueblo sees 220,000 pounds of tomatoes on the final Wednesday of every August. The tradition attracts tourists from around the world.
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The event became ticketed in 2013 after the participant population boomed to an unmanageable 50,000. (Before the event became super popular worldwide, only about 9,000 would attend.) Now, a comfortable 20,000 participants are able to join in the tomato-paste bath if they buy tickets before the event sells out.
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Yes, a ham. Tomatina can't begin until someone climbs atop a two-story pole to retrieve it. According to festival organizers, that usually takes too long for impatient revelers, who begin throwing tomatoes before the meat is captured. Once the ham is retrieved, however, the firing of water cannons signals the official start.
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Legend has it that the festival first occurred in 1944 or 1945 when Bunol townspeople threw tomatoes at a city councilman, but there are many other theories. Some believe it commemorates a food fight between local friends, others say it was the response to a tomato delivery truck spilling its contents by accident.
Dictator Francisco Franco nixed the festival for decades because it was not of any religious significance, but it returned triumphantly after his fall from power in the 1970s.
The small town of Bunol can't handle the wave of tourists that swarm the event, so many have to stay 23 miles away in Valencia until the big day. That's no problem, since Valencia is home to bull-fighting and beaches to keep them entertained.
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Business owners cover storefronts in tarps and plastic in preparation for the mess. It's no wonder why, seeing as the pelting of squashed tomatoes turns everything in sight pink.
Shannon McMahon has lived in Spain and visited most major cities on the Iberian Peninsula. She hopes to one day attend La Tomatina. Follow her on Twitter@Shanmcmahon_ .
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