BUNOL: Thousands of half-naked revellers pelted each other with tomatoes on Wednesday in the town of Bunol in eastern Spain, bathing the streets with red goo in the 70th annual “Tomatina” battle.

A string of trucks laden with 150 tonnes of tomatoes rolled through the town’s narrow streets, as teams on board distributed the load to surrounding crowds for people to throw at each other during the hour-long morning festivities.

The iconic fiesta, billed at “the world’s biggest food fight”, has become a major draw for foreigners, in particular from Britain, Japan, Australia and the United States.

Bunol city hall estimates that only one-fifth of the roughly 22,000 participants this year are from Spain.

Bunol mayor Rafael Perez said the event had become so succesful by allowing anyone participating to let off steam.

“There are countries where maybe people have a harder time expressing their feelings,” he told Spanish radio.

“The Japanese for example are very reserved, solemn, and transform themselves when they come here,” he added.

Organisers recommend participants squish the tomatoes before throwing them — “the hit will be less painful” — wear old clothes and use goggles to protect their eyes from the fruit’s acid.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2015

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