Photos: Thousands join Spain’s La Tomatina festival for epic tomato battle

In PicturesSaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkRevelers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina" tomato fight fiesta, in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]By APPublished On 26 Aug 202626 Aug 2026Thousands of revelers have packed into the narrow streets of Buñol in eastern Spain for La Tomatina, the town’s annual tomato-throwing festival that has become one of the country’s most distinctive summer attractions.For around an hour on Wednesday, trucks unloaded up to 165 tonnes of overripe tomatoes into the crowd as festival-goers, many in white T-shirts, hurled the fruit at each other to a soundtrack of blasting pop music.Authorities covered buildings with tarps ahead of the melee and deployed police, who at one point appeared to use pepper spray to disperse part of the crowd before the festivities quickly resumed.More than 20,000 people were expected to attend, with Spanish media reporting that about 40 percent of participants in recent years are international tourists, including a growing number from India following the 2011 Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.La Tomatina, held on the last Wednesday of August, began with a local food fight in 1945 and survived a ban under Gen. Francisco Franco before television turned it into a global spectacle.Thousands of revelers descended on Buñol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight, where they painted the small Spanish town red with up to 165 tons of overripe tomatoes. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]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. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]Loaded trucks proceeded through the crowd, with people standing in their cargo beds hurling tomatoes at the revelers. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]Their white shirts soon turned pink and red while American pop songs blasted from speakers. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]More than 20,000 people were expected to take part this year, with Spanish news agency EFE reporting this week that roughly 40% of participants over the past three years are tourists from outside Spain. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]There has been a notable jump in visitors from India in recent years, following the 2011 Bollywood movie “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (“You Only Live Once”), 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. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]Similar tomato-flinging events have taken place in Florida, London, Amsterdam, the Colombian town of Sutamarchán and Hyderabad, India. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]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. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]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's streets are later hosed down. Though stains on clothes can be permanent, the tomatoes' citric acid acts as a cleaning agent, often leaving Buñol’s streets cleaner than before. [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]