Thousands drenched in red in Spain’s ‘Tomatina’ battle

BUNOL, Spain – More than 20,000 people pelted each other with ripe tomatoes Wednesday in the annual “Tomatina” street battle in a town in eastern Spain that has become a major tourist attraction.

The party saw 145 tons of tomatoes offloaded from six trucks into crowds packing Bunol’s streets for the midday hour-long battle.

The fight left participants and the surrounding streets awash in red pulp.

Participants donned swimming goggles to protect their eyes.

Organizers hosed the streets down moments after the event’s end at noon while participants used public showers or the town river.

“It’s just amazing. Absolutely loved every minute of it,” said Abby Tacktee, 28, from Newcastle, England. “It’s was just a laugh a minute.”

The event, which costs about $13 for a basic ticket, with 5,000 tickets reserved for town residents and 17,000 for people from outside.

The event has been held for 74 years and was inspired by a food fight between local children in 1945 in the tomato-producing region.