La Tomatina 2026: Thousands paint Spanish town red in annual tomato battle
Thousands gathered in Buñol, Spain, for La Tomatina, hurling over 160 tons of tomatoes in a festive hour-long battle.
The small Spanish town of Buñol was transformed into a sea of red on Wednesday as thousands of revellers took part in the annual La Tomatina festival. Participants hurled an estimated 165 tons of overripe tomatoes at each other, turning the streets into a slippery, juice-soaked battleground.
Trucks loaded with tomatoes inched through the crowds, with people in the cargo beds tossing fruit at those below. Within minutes, white shirts were stained pink and red as pop music blared from speakers. While the atmosphere was largely celebratory, police were seen using pepper spray at one point to disperse a section of the crowd, though the festive mood quickly returned.
The hour-long melee is held on the last Wednesday of August and traces its origins to a spontaneous food fight in 1945. The event was banned under General Francisco Franco in the 1950s but gained national and then international fame after televised coverage in the 1980s.
Organisers expected more than 20,000 participants this year, with Spanish news agency EFE reporting that roughly 40% of attendees over the past three years have been international tourists. Among them is a growing contingent from India, inspired by the 2011 Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which featured a memorable recreation of the festival.
Romail Khokhar, a 27-year-old clothing business owner from Mumbai, attended for the third time. "I feel really great, actually. It's the best festival that I ever had, and I enjoy a lot here," he said.
Similar tomato-throwing events have since sprung up in Florida, London, Amsterdam, the Colombian town of Sutamarchán, and Hyderabad, India. Non-local attendees pay €15 ($17.50) for a ticket. The only rule: squash tomatoes before throwing to avoid injury, though many still wear goggles and earplugs.
A cannon blast signals the end of the fight, after which crowds rinse off at communal showers and the town hoses down its streets. Despite the mess, the citric acid in the tomatoes often leaves Buñol cleaner than before.