La Tomatina , the worlds biggest food fight
La Tomatina is the worlds largest food fight held in the Valencian town of Bunol every August. I first heard of this festival in my high school Spanish class and for years it lived on the bottom of my bucket list, until Mother and I started planning a Spanish Vacation…
Through a bit of research it became apparent that Tomatina is quite the drunken, sloppy, sea of tomatoes- cue Mother’s loss of interest. While her love and support for my saucy desires would take us all the way to Valencia it stopped directly in front of the tour bus door and I would venture to Buneol alone. I elected to book my day through Festivals All Around to minimize the planning and hopefully meet a few friends; they provided the ride to and from Valencia, entry, a Tomatina T-shirt, Sangria pre party and after party.
Starting during the early morning bus ride the day was filled with debauchery, you wouldn’t want to go into this sober-TRUST. Imagine being crammed into the narrow streets of an otherwise sleepy town, everyone is rallying around a greased pole where piles of people are climbing over each other trying to shimmy to the top and grab a hunk of ham, this will initiate the beginning of the festival. Eventually , ham or no ham the cannon sounds and huge dump trucks filled with tomatoes and water hoses start making their way down the roads.
This is where it gets messy, and vicious, and a little gross. I made friends with a large group of fellow Americans by this point and we huddled near a wall, it was nice to use the ledge for better vantage but otherwise just plan to be in a rock concert style mosh pit+ Ragu spaghetti sauce.
You’re supposed to squish the tomatoes prior to throwing but that doesn't always happen and there were a few times when I got ROCKED. Wearing googles is not optional, tomatoes are acidic and it will burn! I also used one of those waterproof plastic cases to wear my phone as a necklace but tread cautiously because even if you can keep it clean this place is a pick pocketer’s dream!
The aftermath
The local people go straight into cleanup and use hoses to start rinsing the hoards of visitors. We found a nearby river and borrowed some shampoo to do the best job we could. Full disclosure, I was finding tomato sauce in places I wish I wasn’t for days- LIKE MY EARS! Expect to toss any clothes/ shoes you wear and maybe plan on skipping the pizza, salsa, and bloody marys for the upcoming week…
Am I planning to go again? Probably not but I wouldn’t take it back. Viva Tomatina!
To check out the rest of our Spain trip click here!
