The beautiful town of bunol:
Bunol is a town in
the "valencia", Spain. It has an area of some 112 km, and is
situated approximately 38 km west of the provincial and autonomous
community capital city, Valencia. It lies
along the Bunol River and is
surrounded by the mountain ranges La
Sierra de Las Cabrillas, la
Sierra de Dos Aguas and la Sierra de Malacara y Martes.
Archaeological evidence indicates
civilization in Bunol going back 50,000 years. Bunol's population is about 9,000
people but is visited by over 30,000 for La Tomatina
a tomato throwing event in the Plaza del Pueblo. On the last Wednesday of every
August, thousands of people gather in the Plaza and throw metric tons of over
ripe tomatoes at each other.
On August 29, 2007, 40,000
Spaniards gathered in the town to throw 115,000 kilograms of tomatoes at each other in the yearly Tomatina festival. Bare-chested tourists also
included hundreds of British, French, and Germans.
La Tomatina Fest:
The sunny Mediterranean city of Valencia in Spain is
world-renowned for its tasty and succulent oranges. And just thirty miles away
is Bunol, another town just as famous for its produce. But its notoriety comes
from the locals' habit of wearing the produce as well as tasting it: every
year, Buñol hosts La Tomatina, the world's largest vegetable fight.
It takes place during a week-long celebration filled with on-going
festivities and with even greater anticipation for the monstrous tomato battle
that serves as the culmination of the week's events.
Without question the biggest tomato fight in the world, La
Tomatina started with a good laugh. In 1945, in Bunol's main town square, a
number of friends started a tomato fight for unknown reasons. It's unclear
whether the initial volley was aimed at city officials or simply pedestrians
unlucky enough to be in the line of fire. Soon enough, however, with their
rowdy hooliganism drawing passers-by into the fray, everyone was having a great
time. They had so much fun, in fact, that from that day forward, the fiesta has
been celebrated annually and has grown ever bigger each year.
For a week leading up to
the epic battle, the 20,000-strong town of Buñol, is filled with parades,
fireworks, food and street parties. The night before La Tomatina, the narrow
streets beneath the town's imposing Medieval bell tower are filled with
tomatoes, in a much more palatable form than they will be the next day!
Cauldrons of delectable paella cooking, simmered traditionally over
wood-burning fires line the Concurso des Paellas, near the Plaza del Pueblo,
site of the imminent skirmishes. Wine and food flow around the small town until
the wee hours, in a fabulous Dickens-like foreshadowing. After all, who can do
battle thirsty and on an empty stomach?
Then, early Wednesday morning, shopkeepers and business owners
along the Plaza set about covering windows and doors in preparation for the
messy onslaught. Large trucks rumble up the cobblestone streets to arrive in
the crowd-filled square and, from the back of the huge trucks, official
instigators begin ceremoniously pelting the awaiting throng with their precious
cargo: sloppy, squishy tomatoes trucked in from the four corners of Spain.
Dressed in clothing doomed for the rubbish bin, more than 20,000
revelers retaliate against the truckers, each other and anything else that
strays within range of their hand-crushed veggie blobs. Soon the streets are
awash in seeds, pulp and tomato guts - possibly one of the best starts to a
great marinara sauce to be found west of Mont Blanc.
The insanity ensues until more than 90,000 pounds of tomatoes have
been hurled at anything with a pulse that ducks, runs, stops, turns about, or
fights back. For visiting tourists, be aware that anyone with a camera or a
baseball cap will be considered a prime target. Like all good battles, the
assault is over in less than half an hour. Everyone then reconciles with their
former targets and fellow warriors and heads down to the river to remove the
saucy mess from hair and body.
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