More than 20,000 revellers descended on the eastern Spanish village of Bunol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight, transforming the streets into rivers of red sludge.
Crowds hurled tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes at each other during the hour-long melee, which takes place every year on the last Wednesday of August in the tomato-producing region near Valencia.
Trucks unloaded massive supplies of tomatoes to participants wearing white T-shirts and shorts, which were quickly stained pink and red as pop songs played from speakers throughout the village.
At one point during the festivities, police appeared to use pepper spray to disperse an area of the crowd, though a festive atmosphere resumed shortly after the brief disruption.
Ahead of the event, residents and business owners covered local building facades with protective tarps, while some of the roughly 5,000 local residents watched the fruity chaos from behind safety barriers.
Ticket requirements and crowd control
Local authorities expected more than 20,000 people to participate in this year's event. Spanish news agency EFE reported this week that roughly 40 per cent of participants over the past three years have been foreign tourists.
Participation has been paid and ticketed since 2013, when local officials introduced entry fees after deciding that excessive numbers of international visitors were overwhelming the village streets. Non-local attendees currently pay 15 euros ($17.50) per ticket, generating a welcome boost for local government coffers.
Organisers enforce a single core safety rule: participants must squash their tomatoes before throwing them to prevent injuries. Many revellers also wear swimming goggles to protect their eyes, insert earplugs, or pack belongings into dry bags before making tomato juice angels in the streets.
International appeal and Bollywood influence
International interest in the festival has expanded significantly in recent years, driven in part by the 2011 Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara ("You Only Live Once"). The movie featured three friends on a Spanish road trip during a bachelor party and recreated the festival for Indian audiences.
The film prompted a noticeable rise in Indian visitors, including Romail Khokhar, a 27-year-old from Mumbai, who attended the food fight on Wednesday morning for his third time.
First-time participants Mazhar Khan and Sanya Khan, both 40 and from India, also travelled to Spain after learning about the event through the movie. "It was fantastic, absolutely well-managed," Mazhar Khan said. "We are from India, and this is our first time being in La Tomatina. It has been a dream for over a decade."
The film's impact extends beyond India to other international travelers. Joanna Wytrzyszczewska, 32, from Poland, said the experience surpassed her expectations: "Way more crazy than we expected. We came because we were inspired by a movie. It was better than the movie."
Origins, global spinoffs and street cleanup
La Tomatina originated in 1945 following a street food fight between local children in Bunol. Although Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco banned the event during the 1950s, it developed into an annual tradition that gained national and international prominence after receiving televised media coverage in the 1980s.
The success of the festival has inspired similar tomato-flinging events in other parts of the world, including London, Amsterdam, Florida, the town of Sutamarchan in Colombia, and Hyderabad in India.
After roughly an hour of tomato throwing, the blast of a cannon signaled the end of the fight. Participants headed to nearby communal showers to wash off, while council workers hosed down the streets.
Although tomato pulp can permanently stain clothing, the high citric acid content of the fruit acts as a natural cleaning agent, frequently leaving the streets of Bunol cleaner after the event than before it began.
