40,000 people took part in the annual tomato battle
40,000 people and 120,000 kilos of ripe tomatoes left the streets of Buñol awash in a sea of red for another year this Wednesday, in the annual world famous tomato fight, La Tomatina.
The battle has been held there for more than half a century, taking place on the last Wednesday of every August, as locals and visitors from around the world pelt each other with the juicy tomatoes.
La Tomatina has featured in Bollywood, and an extra edition of the tomato fight was held in Buñol for the Bollywood cameras in February.
El Mundo notes that some of the revellers were seen protecting their heads this year with colanders and even watermelon rind fashioned as a helmet. Others wore diving goggles to protect their eyes as they dove into the sea of red.
It’s understood that the local Town Hall is to study reducing the number of participants for next year’s La Tomatina.