Spain’s tomato food fight leaves thousands covered in pulp

Thousands of participants engaged in a large-scale tomato fight at Spain's renowned 'La Tomatina' festival. The event, which commenced recently, saw participants pelting each other with tomatoes. This annual tradition transforms the streets into a scene of pulp-covered revelers. The festival's core activity involves this mass tomato throwing, drawing thousands of people to partake in the unique celebration.

Thousands of revelers gathered in Buñol, Spain, on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina festival, a massive tomato fight that covers the town in up to 165 tons of overripe tomatoes. The hour-long event, held on the last Wednesday of August, originated from a food fight in 1945 and became an international attraction after media attention in the 1980s. Approximately 40% of participants are tourists, with a notable increase from India following the 2011 Bollywood movie "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara." Attendees pay a fee and are instructed to squash tomatoes before throwing them to prevent injuries. The festival concludes with a cannon blast, after which participants clean up and the streets are hosed down.