What do you think of this fact?
Today at 11 a.m., a shot rings out in Buñol near Valencia, and then the tomatoes start flying. Lots of tomatoes: according to the Spanish newspaper Público, about 150 tonnes in 2015. Yet La Tomatina was banned for years, until people threw a tomato a funeral.
It started with a scuffle
The best-known version of the origin story goes like this: on the last Wednesday of August 1945, Buñol’s traditional parade of “Gigantes y Cabezudos”, giant figures and big-headed costumes, was moving through town. A few young people pushed their way in so hard that one participant fell. A scuffle broke out, and there happened to be a vegetable stall nearby. The tomatoes became ammunition.
Exactly how it happened isn’t firmly documented. Even the magazine Xataka calls 1945 the year it “supposedly” all began. What is clear: the next year, the young people came back, this time bringing their own tomatoes. The police had to break up that fight too.
Banned, and still every year
In the years that followed, the authorities banned the tomato fight several times. Hardly anyone cared. According to the food magazine lovefood, it still took place, even though some participants were arrested.
Then, in 1957, came the best protest in the festival’s history: the “Entierro del Tomate”, the burial of the tomato. The people of Buñol carried a coffin with a giant tomato inside through the streets, accompanied by a band playing funeral marches.
It worked. Soon after, La Tomatina was allowed. The year varies by source: Xataka says 1957, Público says it became an official festival in 1959.
From banned to tourist magnet
Today, according to Spain’s official tourism portal spain.info, La Tomatina is a “Festival of International Tourist Interest”. It received the title in 2002, according to Público. If you want to join in, you now need a ticket. The fight goes on until a second shot signals the end, and then hoses wash everyone clean.
Before the battle there’s another contest: a huge pole greased with soap is put up, with a ham hanging at the very top. Whoever climbs up gets to keep it.
So a scuffle at a vegetable stall turned into a festival you need a ticket for. The tomato survived its funeral just fine.