Shropshire Star

Revellers hurl tomatoes at each other in Spanish town’s Tomatina party

Participants use swimming goggles to protect their eyes and usually dress in T-shirts and shorts.

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Spain Tomatina

Some 15,000 people, including many tourists, pelted each other with tomatoes on Wednesday as Spain’s annual Tomatina street battle took place in the eastern town of Bunol.

Workers on lorries tipped 120 tons of overripe tomatoes into the main street of the town for participants to throw.

The street fight leaves both the street, its houses and participants drenched in red pulp.

Spain Tomatina
Thousands gather for the street battle (Alberto Saiz/AP)

Tickets for the festival start at 12 euros (£10.30)

The town hoses down the area and the revellers shower off within minutes of the hour-long noon battle finishing.

The festival, held on the last Wednesday of August, was inspired by a food fight between local children in 1945 in the town, located in a tomato-producing region.

Spain Tomatina
The street fight leaves both the street, its houses and participants drenched in red pulp (Alberto Saiz/AP)

Media attention in the 1980s turned it into a national and international event, drawing participants from every corner of the world.

Participants use swimming goggles to protect their eyes and usually dress in T-shirts and shorts.

The party is ranked by Spain as an international tourism attraction.

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