Tourists flock to tomato-throwing festival in Spain

PA

It was a serious case of pulp friction in the small town of Bunol in Spain where the world's biggest food fight - La Tomatina - took place this week.

Bunol's town hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away as Japan and Australia, took up arms (or should we say fruit?) on Wednesday and pelted each other with 120 tons of ripe tomatoes in the yearly food fight now in its 66th year.

PA

The annual festival is believed to date back to 1944 when participants of a staged brawl used tomatoes from a nearby vegetable stand as weapons.

A horn signals the start of the event, but only after someone manages to climb a greased pole and reach a dangling leg of jamón. The tomato-pulp-pelting continues for an hour and ends when another horn is sounded.

There are few guidelines, but everyone is asked to squash tomatoes before throwing them and participants are advised to wear goggles.

The Tourist Office of Spain said: 'Participants have a wonderful time throwing tomatoes at anything that moves.'

And to keep locals sweet, the town halls are hosed down after the event.

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