Thousands Join La Tomatina Tomato Fight in Spain

Thousands of people hurled tomatoes at each other in Bunol, eastern Spain, during the famous La Tomatina food fight festival.

Seven trucks loaded with 120 tonnes of ripe, juicy tomatoes, drove past the town's main street as revelers wearing white clothes threw tomatoes at each other.

Thrilled revelers ended up swimming and rowing in tomato sauce as some of them even found the romantic moment to kiss each other.

The streets of a town in eastern Spain were awash in red as revelers flung overripe tomatoes at each other in a high-spirited battle royale during the traditional Tomatina festival.

Some 22,000 participants wearing white clothes bespattered with tomato pulp engaged in the frenzy that grips Bunol - located 40 km to the west of Valencia - every year in the last week of August.

Non-residents pay a fee of $16.70, while Bunol locals enjoy it for free.

The start of the hour-long fight was signaled by firecrackers ignited once one of the contenders managed to climb up a slippery pole lathered in soap to snatch a leg of ham hanging from the top.

After the fracas ended, a cleaning crew armed with water hoses was dispatched to remove the refuse from the town's streets, which were left gleaming thanks to the tomatoes' natural acidity.

According to the Tomatina's official website, the festival originated during a brawl that ensued in 1945 when youngsters attempting to get a closer view of a parade knocked over one of the participants. Several people plucked tomatoes from a nearby stand as makeshift projectiles until police restored order.

The following year, youths recreated the altercation, with some even bringing their own tomatoes. The event was briefly outlawed in the 1950s under General Francisco Franco's fascist dictatorship, but resumed in 1959 with certain rules.

The Tomatina is said to have originated from a spontaneous bust-up amongst villagers in 1945.