Spanish town blushes with annual tomato fight

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In Bunol, Spain, the simple act of throwing a tomato has snowballed into an annual festival that attracts thousands of participants. La Tomatina--in which people chuck tomatoes at each other--is held annually on the final Wednesday of August. This year town authorities say 40,000 people participated. (Biel Alino / EPA)

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How La Tomatina began is unclear. Local lore says started in the mid-1940s with a food battle between youngsters near a vegetable stand on the town square in Bunol. (Fernando Bustamante / Associated Press)

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It isn’t wise to go into a tomato fight without protection, of course. Some participants in La Tomatina fortified themselves with helmets made of watermelons. (Biel Alino / EPA)

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The streets ran red in Bunol, Spain, during La Tomatina. Afterward, crews hosed down the town (which has a population of about 9,000) and some warriors washed off in a local river. (Biel Alino / EPA)

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This isn’t pulp fiction: it’s a juicy fact for the target of this potable plume. (Fernando Bustamante / Associated Press)

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A reveler takes a timeout to soak it all in. Authorities say 113 tons of tomatoes were launched during this year’s event. That figure would seem to indicate that La Tomatina isn’t dying on the vine; according to a 1987 Reuters report that appeared in The Times, just 60 tons were used that year. (Fernando Bustamante / Associated Press)

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Participants toss tomatoes from a truck that gives new meaning to the term “mosh pit.” Bunol’s La Tomatina seems to get everyone’s creative juices flowing; in 2002, a Times headline over a picture of tomato-throwing said: “You Say Tomato, I Say Duck.” (Pablo Argente / AFP/Getty Images)

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Another way revelers protected themselves was by wearing swimming goggles. And some used disposable cameras to capture the action. (Fernando Bustamante / Associated Press)

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Although the actual tomato-throwing is limited to one hour, the festival goes on for a whole week in Bunol, which is about 25 miles (as the tomato flies) from Valencia, Spain. (Fernando Bustamante / Associated Press)

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Anyone who’s ever been sprayed by a skunk knows that bathing in tomato juice is one of the recommended remedies. But can a tomato dip also prevent skunkings? Maybe this young man can be a test case.

Read more about this year’s La Tomina here. (Pablo Argente / AFP/Getty Images)

By From the Associated Press

Aug. 27, 2008 10:43 AM PT

BUNOL, SPAIN —

Spanish revelers have pelted each with 113 tons of ripe tomatoes in an annual food fight.

Town hall says an estimated 40,000 people took part in the hour of messy fun in the village of Bunol near Valencia.

The ritual dates back to the 1940s.

Some warriors in today’s battle wore swimming goggles to protect themselves from the acid sting of projectiles in the form of pear-shaped tomatoes. Others swatted them away with tennis rackets.

Afterward, many washed off in a nearby river while crews hosed down a town painted red.

Spanish town blushes with annual tomato fight

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