Yesterday Buñol turned into a sea of red for the famous Tomatina, now in its 78th edition. About 22,000 people took part in this traditional battle of tomatoes variety pear, launching over 120,000 kilos of fruits specially grown for the occasion in extremura and non -edible, transported to the Spanish town on large trucks.
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The event, which is held every last Wednesday in August and was born randomly in 1945, attracts tourists from all over the world, with over 45,000 visitors in the Valencian city. The theme of this year, “Tomatherapy”, celebrated the rebirth of the Valencian community after the devastating Dana, the flood of 29 October 2024.
Buñol was one of the cities most affected by the devastating floods is precisely for this reason the Municipality has prepared a platform dedicated to fundraising for the reconstruction of the castle, which was damaged on that dramatic day.
The official road was given by a rocket at 12, followed by the slow parade of the six trucks loaded with tomatoes. For about an hour, launches and sketches colored the streets, alleys and facades of the houses, transforming Buñol into a huge red arena. The battle ended with a second rocket that announced the end of the battle and the beginning of cleaning with pressure school groups, an operation that brought the city back to normal.
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Is all this waste of food really necessary?
The global popularity of this tomato battle is undeniable but every year we can only ask ourselves how really this tradition is necessary. Although the unedable tomatoes come from dedicated crops (for which in any case water is wasted) and part of the pulp is recycled as agricultural compost, the gesture remains questionable.
In a global context marked by food crisis and scarcity of resources, transforming food into a game tool appears paradoxical. The festival highlights a contradiction: the desire for collective fun clashes with the social value of food and with responsibilities towards a more fair and sustainable world.
And in the meantime, Tomatina continues to generate tourism and economic benefits for Buñol, between hotels, restaurants and local activities, a tradition that has now become a mere commercial event in recent years in which tons of food are literally thrown for pure entertainment, in a world where millions of people still suffer hunger.
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