The annual ‘Tomatina’ festival took place on Wednesday in the town of Buñol, Valencia, with 20,000 people hurling over-ripe tomatoes at each other for an hour before being hosed down, although this year they dad to pay.
The decision was taken to reduce the capacity of the event, which began in 1945, from 50,000 to 20,000 to allow easier access for the six lorries carrying the 130,000 kilos of over-ripe ammunition and possible security concerns.
The event has become so popular, with participants from 60 countries, that the sheer volume of people could eventually become a security concern.
In addition to limiting the number of participants to 20,000, the other novelty this year was that they had to pay €10 each for the privilege. There were 15,000 tickets at €10 offered for sale plus 5,000 free tickets reserved for local residents to ‘preserve the sense of fiesta’.
Next year’s festival will also be a ‘paid’ event.