Buñol is a village 40km from Valencia and is near the well-known wine-producing villages of Chiva, Godelleta and Requena. If you take a trip out there, be sure to visit:
• The castle and the museum. You get great views from here, not just of the village but of all the surrounding mountainous countryside.
• The San Luís Bertrán Hermitage (18th century).
• The church of San Pedro Apóstol (17th century).
• The fountain of San Luís: this fountain is in a wooded area with picnic facilities and an auditorium where you can enjoy excellent cocerts given by the two local bands: Los Litros (The Litres) y Los Feos (The Ugly ones).
• But, above all, Buñol is known for its now famous “Tomatina”, which used to be a local affair, but today draws tourists, photographers and journalists from all over the world to witness and record its unique character.
La Tomatina
The Buñol fiestas take place during the second half of August in honour of the village’s patron saint, San Luís Bertrán and Valencia’s patron saint, Holy Mary, the protector of children. At this time there are lots of church services, processions and concerts.
So what exactly is “la Tomatina”?
Put simply, it’s a tomato war which takes place on the last Wednesday in August and attracts thousands of visitors, dressed – rather unsurprisingly – in their oldest clothes or swim wear! It all gets underway when the council starts unloading tons of ripe tomatoes from lorries in the village square and the visitors start to throw tomatoes at each other for an hour or so. A useful piece of information for any tourists who plan to observe and take photos is that tomatoes are hurled, not just at the tomato warriors themselves but also at anyone in the vicinity – nobody is safe! The appeal of this event cuts through the generations, the nationalities and the sexes and the tomato throwers range from the very young to the very old, of both sexes. It has been declared a fiesta of international importance and people from outside are made very welcome. Infact thousands of foreigners turn up in Buñol at this time to take part. When the battle is over, all the participants go down to the River Jarra to wash and turn the river red! There are also communal showers to get rid of the battle stains. The veterans and the forward thinkers tend to keep a set of clean clothes in their cars so they can get changed, although some of the younger people like to go back to their villages without cleaning up – perhaps because they’re proud to show that they’ve taken part in the Tomatina.
So if you want to take part...
The fun starts at 12 midday when everyone congregates on the main square where there’s a jamon (leg of ham) up a pole that everyone tries to grab hold of. This is rather difficult as it’s covered in soap so everyone slides off! The fiesta gets underway when someone finally gets hold of the ham. At that moment the tractors loaded with tons of tomatoes emerge and go through the main streets and finally deposit their load in the middle of the street. The tomatina begins! The streets become a battleground for an hour and a half and during this time, tomatoes fly in all directions, but when it finishes it is strictly forbidden to throw any more tomatoes. Although the tomatoes are very ripe and even if they’re thrown hard (as indeed they are) don’t hurt too much, it’s probably not a good idea to get involved in the battle with young children. After it’s over, people come out of their houses to sweep up the streets, clean the outside of their houses and it’s even known for people to come out with paintbrushes to paint over the stains – Buñol has never looked cleaner! Although the bars and restaurants (not surprisingly!) tend to close when the battle is going on, they do re-open in the evening. The locals tend to eat even later than normal, so you shouldn’t have too many problems having a drink and getting dinner before midnight. Everyone is out on the streets, drinking and socialising until late into the night.
So how did these strange fiestas start?
In common with a lot of other traditional fiestas, there are various theories about how they came into being. One thing that everybody agrees on however is the date when it all started – 1944.
• Some say it started as a fight among friends.
• Others think that during a procession a group of anti-religious protestors started throwing tomatoes as a sign of protest.
• One of the more credible theories is that an old man was selling vegetables in the village when his stall turned over and the group of young people who happened to be passing seized the opportunity and started throwing the old man’s produce at each other.
However it started, don’t miss this event if you’re in the vicinity during the second half of August. Although it should also be said that Buñol is worth a visit in peacetime too!
With thanks to Emilio Requena for writing this guide |
