A folk holiday that defeated the prohibitions of power - the battle of tomatoes at the La Tomatina festival

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

La Tomatina is a Spanish holiday held in the town of Buñol. 40,000 people from all over the world flock to the 9,000th suburb of Valencia to get to know each other properly. The consequences of these battles are impressive - the walls of the houses in the main square are red. But not from blood, but from 100 tons of specially brought tomatoes. It is the tomato that is the main weapon at this festival. It is difficult to say which is more interesting - the battle of tomatoes itself, or the history of this holiday.

Today, many different types of folk battles are fought in the world. We have already talked about pillow fights and water battles. But if those battles are flash mobs, then the battle of tomatoes in Spain is a favorite aftermath of youth brawls.

After all, the history of the La Tomatina festival says that back in 1945, a major scuffle began in the city market, during which its participants used the original weapon - tomatoes from the traders' stalls. The police quickly stopped that fight. However, the participants in the battle were eager for revenge. It took place exactly one year later - on August 27, 1946. This time, the brawlers brought tomatoes from home, so as not to ruin the merchants. Once again, the battle was stopped by the police. In subsequent years, the battle took place, rather, between the people and the government. The first fell in love with the tradition of throwing ripe tomatoes at each other, the second tried to prevent so-called riots.

The Buñol authorities surrendered in 1950 when the biggest tomato battle took place. However, a year later, law enforcement agencies again detained the most violent tomato throwers, some of whom were even arrested. The people stood up for those people. Under pressure from the residents of the city, the detainees were quickly released. And then Tomatina received the status of an official holiday. However, not for long. People began to learn about the holiday in other cities. The scale of tomato battles grew - they threw tomatoes at peaceful passers-by, including influential people. Also, the participants threw each other into the fountains, doused themselves with water. Once again, the municipality intervened, banning the festival. The upset residents responded to the authorities with a sad but very funny mass action - "Tomato's funeral". A group of young men carried around the city a coffin containing a huge tomato. The authorities again allowed Tomatina. True, not without certain regulations - the battle with tomatoes began and ended at a signal.

In 1975, the city rulers started organizing the holiday. Tomatoes began to be supplied from the neighboring Autonomous Society of Extremadura, where the price of tomatoes is quite low. More and more tomatoes were brought in every year. Nowadays, tomatoes are transported by trucks, the total weight of vegetables is more than 100 tons. The consequences of Tomatina have to be eliminated by fire engines, who not without difficulty cope with clearing the streets of tomato madness.

The holiday takes place at the end of August and lasts a whole week. In addition to the tomato battles themselves, the festival program includes dances, fairs, and fireworks. On the days of Tomatina, shop assistants in the main square of the city protect the windows of their establishments with large plastic shields. The rules of Tomatina are simple to the limit - it is forbidden to bring and use glass bottles, before throwing a tomato, it should be crushed so as not to injure a person, and also to start and end the battle on a signal.

More than 40,000 people participate in the tomato battle. The only thing that upsets them is the lack of toilets on the battlefield. A logical conclusion follows from this - tomato slurry consists not only of the tomatoes themselves.