{"id":76031,"date":"2026-08-26T12:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/76031\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T12:36:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:36:04","slug":"la-tomatina-food-fight-draws-foreigners-and-spanish-locals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/76031\/","title":{"rendered":"La Tomatina food fight draws foreigners and Spanish locals"},"content":{"rendered":"

BU\u00d1OL, Spain (AP) \u2014 Thousands of revelers descended on Bu\u00f1ol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight<\/a>, where they painted the small Spanish town red with up to 165 tons of overripe tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at the revelers \u2014 who, in turn, hurled them at one another. Their white shirts soon turned pink and red while pop songs blasted from speakers. At one point, police appeared to use pepper spray to disperse an area of the crowd, but a festive vibe quickly resumed.<\/p>\n

The messy melee takes place for over an hour in the town, where buildings are covered with tarps ahead of the festivities. Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival traces its origins to a food fight in 1945<\/a>.<\/p>\n

La Tomatina became an annual tradition before Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco<\/a> banned it in the 1950s. Televised media attention in the 1980s helped turn the festival into a national event, and eventually, an international attraction. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Revelers<\/p>\n

Revelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual \u201cTomatina\u201d tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)<\/p>\n

Revelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual \u201cTomatina\u201d tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)<\/p>\n

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More than 20,000 people had been expected to take part this year, with the Spanish news agency EFE reporting this week that roughly 40% of participants over the past three years have been tourists from outside Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There has been a notable jump in visitors from India in recent years, following the 2011 Bollywood<\/a> movie \u201cZindagi Na Milegi Dobara\u201d (\u201cYou Only Live Once\u201d), in which three friends take a road-trip through Spain during an extended bachelor party. The film recreated La Tomatina, introducing the festival to many Indians.<\/p>\n

\"Revelers<\/p>\n

\n Revelers from India pose for a picture ahead of the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)\n <\/p>\n

Revelers from India pose for a picture ahead of the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)<\/p>\n

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\"Revelers<\/p>\n

\n Revelers Vigu, left, and Megha from India pose for a picture ahead of the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)\n <\/p>\n

Revelers Vigu, left, and Megha from India pose for a picture ahead of the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)<\/p>\n

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The movie is what first drew Romail Khokhar, a 27-year-old from Mumbai, to Bu\u00f1ol. He was there on Wednesday morning, eager to participate in the food fight for his third time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really great, actually. It\u2019s the best festival that I ever had, and I enjoy a lot here,\u201d said Khokhar, who owns a clothing business.<\/p>\n

Similar tomato-flinging events have taken place in Florida, London, Amsterdam,<\/a> the Colombian town of Sutamarch\u00e1n and Hyderabad, India.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Non-local attendees pay 15 euros ($17.50) for a ticket. The first and only rule: Squash your tomatoes before hurling them to avoid injuries. Still, many participants don swimming goggles and earplugs for protection. <\/p>\n

\"Revelers<\/p>\n

\n Revelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)\n <\/p>\n

Revelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)<\/p>\n

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\"Revelers<\/p>\n

\n Revelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)\n <\/p>\n

Revelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual “Tomatina” tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz)<\/p>\n

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Once the hour is up, the sound of a cannon blast marks the end of festivities and crowds wash off at communal showers nearby. The town\u2019s streets are later hosed down.<\/p>\n

Though stains on clothes can be permanent, the tomatoes\u2019 citric acid acts as a cleaning agent, often leaving Bu\u00f1ol\u2019s streets cleaner than before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BU\u00d1OL, Spain (AP) \u2014 Thousands of revelers descended on Bu\u00f1ol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2872,1373,22113,6938,42,1220,28925,4697,21791,17,394],"class_list":["post-76031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-amsterdam","tag-entertainment","tag-fairs-and-festivals","tag-food-and-drink","tag-francisco-franco","tag-general-news","tag-hyderabad","tag-london","tag-oddities","tag-spain","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}