The 79 Tomatina has once again filled with red today, like every last Wednesday in August, the streets of Buñol (Valencia) where thousands of people have thrown tomatoes at each other in a party that “de-stresses”, of “industrial category” and for which the participants have some advice: “Whoever comes to be clean, don’t come” because it literally “rains” tomatoes “with a shovel”. In fact, others emphasize that the party is basically that: “Become a tomato sauce, accept it and survive, survive…”.
Up to 150,000 kilos of this product, 30,000 more than in the 2025 edition, have been launched by the 22,000 participants in this year’s battle, a material distributed throughout the town aboard seven trucks and whose launch has been joined by residents of Buñol and citizens from different parts of Spain but also from Australia, the USA, Japan, China to India. People of different nationalities, many of them protected with diving goggles and disguised with red wigs or tomato-shaped hats.
Throughout the morning, little by little, the main roads of Buñol destined for the passage of the seven trucks loaded with tomatoes have been filling up with people dressed in white. After the firing of the expected shell at 12:00, those present witnessed the arrival of the first vehicle, which overturned the tomatoes as a signal that began the famous battle.
After the passage of the first truck, the white t-shirts have gradually turned red while the streets have begun to give off a strong smell of tomato and become full of remains everywhere before reaching the end of the battle, with the song ‘Libre’, by the Valencian Nino Bravo. And give way to a quick cleaning afterwards.
Before starting with the launches, residents of the town have dedicated themselves to spraying the participants from their balconies with hoses and buckets full of water. Meanwhile, the participants on the platform also used the hoses directed at the participants. There have only been four incidents of people who have received pepper spray in the eyes, who have been treated and discharged, according to municipal sources.
“VERY GOOD”
“How did it go?” was the most asked question and it received a multitude of answers, but all along the same lines: “Very good,” commented some participants from Canada, with a Spanish family, who were making their debut at the party and who explained that it was “fun.” “We feel young because youth is here,” they said at the end of the battle and before going to have an ice cream.
“You have to come to enjoy and fill yourself with tomatoes. Whoever comes to be clean, don’t come,” commented another group who summed up what the party consists of: “throwing tomatoes at one another with a shovel.” First, they pour buckets of water on you, then the tomatoes and thus “a weight is taken off your shoulders, all the stress is taken away.” “You always have to go to the festivals in Spain and enjoy them to the fullest. Long live Buñol,” shouted another.
A young man from Valencia, who was also making his debut at the party, graphically claimed that it is a “motherfucking” celebration, of “industrial category” and that it consists of “throwing tomatoes with a shovel”, while others encouraged people with doubts to participate: “Let them come, let them come.”
A group from Buñol also participates for the first time, fully, in the street adventure. “This is spectacular”; “Whoever has stress, anxiety or whatever, should come here and throw tomatoes, it will go away quickly.” “It’s very fun, very good vibes, everything very cool…”, they say shouting.
“EXPECTED EXPECTATIONS”
“You have to come to Buñol on the last Wednesday of each vote of each year. It is a phenomenal experience, very good, very good,” add some participants from Carballino (Galicia), who assure that the Tomatina is “unmissable.” The balance of their first time is “very good,” they emphasize.
“We have thrown a lot of tomatoes but they also hit us a lot,” they laugh while ensuring that “we also hit the people,” so the “expectations are exceeded.”
Another group, from southern Spain, believes that the experience is “to repeat.” “The party is to become a tomato sauce and accept it and survive, survive…”, they say, because there is a moment when it literally “rains tomatoes.”
However, they believe that they have defended themselves “well” and have been equipped and prepared for the occasion, with glasses included. “Here people come with everything; you can see that they repeat; there are veteran people,” they laugh.