The Tomatina festival in Buñol

Thousands of people attended the giant food fight. | Europa Press

ReutersBuñol29/08/2019 12:21
TW
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Thousands of revellers hurled tonnes of tomatoes at each other yesterday, cavorting in the red pulp beneath their feet in the Spanish town of Buñol.

Organizers of the annual Tomatina festival tossed 145 tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes into the crowd from six large trucks, quickly converting the town into a sea of pink and red.

Los 145.000 kilos de "munición" de La Tomatina salen este martes hacia Buñol

Some revellers wore goggles to protect their eyes and some buildings were draped with tarpaulin to preserve their walls, while others got soaked with the pulp, creating a scene worthy of a modern art painting.

Tomatina de Buñol

The Tomatina is said to have originated from a spontaneous bust-up amongst villagers in 1945.

It was banned for a while during the 1950s at the height of General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, but survived to gain popularity across Spain in the 1980s and today draws large crowds of visitors from abroad as well as Spaniards.

The town hall distributed more than 20,000 tickets to the festival this year.