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For most of the year, Buñol is a rustic Spanish village whose fewer than 10,000 residents quietly go about their daily business. Then, once a year, things become considerably wilder as its population quadruples with visitors from throughout Spain and Europe who descend on the town for the riotous La Tomatina fiesta.
Held on the last Wednesday of August (this year, the 30th), the fiesta involves more than 150,000 kilograms of mature tomatoes being hurled through the air for an hour (approximately noon to 1pm), dyeing the streets and revellers’ clothes red before fireworks in the town square mark the end of battle.
To take part, all you need is a ticket (bookings here from €12), some old clothes and comfortable shoes, and goggles to protect your eyes.
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If immersing yourself in a shower of tomatoes is not all that much to your liking, you can enjoy the fun from home in the La Tomatina VR Experience interactive virtual reality game.
Also, on 26 August, Buñol organises a free children’s Tomatina in the town square, where the whole family can enjoy the festivities. In the subsequent days leading up to the main battle, other events include a paella contest, tomato fireworks, live music and parades around the mediaeval town centre.
The fiesta’s origins are thought to date to 1945 when a group of young people disrupted a traditional carnival parade and began pelting tomatoes from market vegetable stands at the authorities. Despite being fined, they returned the following year with their own tomatoes and the festivities continued in one form or another until La Tomatina was officially declared a “fiesta of international tourist interest” in 2002.
Buñol is located a convenient two-hour drive from Alicante, in the neighbouring Valencia province. If you are arriving at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport and would like to rent a car to travel to the festivities, check out our comprehensive comparison service here.