Thousands ofrevelers hurled tons of tomatoes at each other on Wednesday, cavorting in thered pulp beneath their feet in the Spanish town of Bunol. Organizers of theannual Tomatina festival tossed 145 tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes into the crowdfrom six large trucks, quickly converting the town into a sea of pink and red.
Some revelerswore goggles to protect their eyes and some buildings were draped withtarpaulin to preserve their walls, while others got soaked with the pulp,creating a scene worthy of a modern art painting. The Tomatina is said to haveoriginated from a spontaneous bust-up amongst villagers in 1945.
It was banned fora while during the 1950s at the height of General Francisco Franco'sdictatorship, but survived to gain popularity across Spain in the 1980s andtoday draws large crowds of visitors from abroad as well as Spaniards. The townhall distributed more than 20,000 tickets to the festival this year.-Reuters