Tomatina: A Battle Of Tomatoes

Every year, in August, the city of Buñol (Spain) organizes a giant battle of tomatoes: the Tomatina. Yes, you read it right. The Spanish ferias are all pretty crazy, but this one is quite peculiar. For about an hour, I was stuck in a fully packed street, my bladder about to explode because of the huge sangria I drank before, and I received and threw tomatoes.

A Few Practical Tips

First, if you decide to participate to the Tomatina, I’d like to give you a few practical advice:

– Wear long sleeves: Tomato juice is bad for the skin and can cause itching or inflammation. Some of my friends got some red spots all over their arms for a few days.

– Wear goggles: I know, you’ll look ridiculous. But you’ll also avoid an eye infection or a black eye, because even if tomatoes are supposed to be crushed before being thrown, that’s rarely the case at the beginning of the battle, and they can be big and hard.

– Take shoes that you can wash in the washing machine or that you can throw after: They’ll be soaked with at least beer and tomato juice, and maybe with some other stuff you don’t want to know about.

– Protect your phone/camera: it’s nice to have pictures of the event, but make sure your device is protected from the tomato juice. I simply used a waterproof case for my phone, and left my camera in my bag. Otherwise, just enjoy the show without taking pictures.

– Don’t drink too much (sangria, water, coffee, anything liquid), because you won’t be able to go to the toilet during the battle, and after, there will be a endless queue and there will be tomato bits all over the place.

Crazy People

Now that you’re aware that the Tomatina is not all glitter and glamour, let’s talk about the fun. Imagine a crowd of people going to a tomato battle. I’m sure you only visualize teenagers drunk with sangria, ready to fight. Well, there are actually various types of people. To me, the most surprising one was a tiny Asian old guy, wearing the typical health mask and looking at the mayhem very calmly. He didn’t move at all and seemed fascinated. And while other people were moving to avoid or catch tomatoes, it seemed like he was protected by some force, because he never got hit. Unlike me. Right in the eye (thank you, goggles).

Some people were wearing wetsuits and did the angel (you know, like in the snow) in the tomato soup on the street.

What Happened

When we arrived, we followed the crowds. We were trying to find a post where a ham was hanged. People had to climb it to catch the ham. We couldn’t find it, because at some point, the streets were so packed nobody could move anymore. So, we just stayed there and waited.

Then, the trucks arrived. And we were like “Uh, there’s no way the trucks can enter the streets, there are too many people”. … Well, they did. It was like some kind of magic, a sort of wave pushed all the people against the buildings, we were suddenly one thick layer of participants wrapped against the walls.

And the trucks drove in the middle, with trailers full of tomatoes and of people throwing them at us. Once the trucks went away, people went back to their normal shapes and started grabbing the tomatoes on the floor to throw them at everybody. That lasted about an hour and then, the current of people guided us to the toilets. And to the shower. Yes, one shower. The queue was so long that we did not all wait and I, for example, bought a bottle of water to rince the tomato off me before going back on the bus.

An Experience To Live At Least Once

The Tomatina was an incredible experience, even though a bit stressful. And bonus: I went there with two friends and left with three. We met a wonderful Malaysian girl and spent the evening with her in Valencia. Three years later, we are still in touch. We even met in February in Belgium.

To see more photos of Spain, you can visit the gallery Spain.