Throw Tomatoes At Me!

For most of the year, Buñol is just like any other small town in Spain. Situated just outside the busy city of Valencia, the residents can enjoy an easy commute to the fast pace of commerce and tourism, with the peace of mind that the traffic is one way. For most of the year, their town is undisturbed by hordes of visitors greedily swamping their streets, bars and restaurants. In late summer, however, this all changes.

The annual tomato throwing fiesta—La Tomatina—is one of the weirdest, and yet best known of Spain's fiestas, and attracts tourists from all over Spain and the rest of the world.

The hostel in Valencia where I stay the night before the fiesta is packed with travelers and students from the US, Germany, France and the UK. On the early morning bus to Buñol, I chat to some of the people who in a few hours will be eagerly launching squashed fruit at me. It is a strange feeling, and I'm not sure whether to consider them comrades or combatants.

I ask a girl from New Zealand why she has included this event in her travel plans. ‘When you travel you see so many sights, so many old buildings and historical sites and museums. You learn so much, but it is very passive. I liked the idea of actually being involved in a Spanish tradition. It’s something that I can take part in—a real experience."

Taking part is certainly a fundamental element of this fiesta.