Qualla: La Tomatina https://qualla.com/la-tomatina en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:38:46 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: La Tomatina https://qualla.com/la-tomatina La Tomatina: Introduction https://qualla.com/la-tomatina/ Photo credit flydime, CC BY-SA 2.0. It began with a costume malfunction. On the last Wednesday of August 1945, young people crowded the main square of Buñol to watch the parade of Giants and Big-Heads - the towering papier-mâché figures beloved at Spanish festivals. One participant's oversized head toppled off. The wearer, furious, began lashing out at everything within reach, a nearby vegetable stall got knocked over, and in the chaos the crowd started flinging tomatoes at one another until the local police broke it up. It should have been a one-off. Instead, eighty years later, that accidental brawl has become the biggest food fight on Earth.

Read more: La Tomatina on Qualla

Image: flydime | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/ezp2-la-tomatina-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full La Tomatina: It Began With a Falling Giant https://qualla.com/la-tomatina/ Photo credit 19Tarrestnom65, CC BY-SA 4.0. The young people of Buñol clearly enjoyed the mess, because the following August some of them staged a rematch - a pre-arranged quarrel, this time with tomatoes brought from home. The police broke that up too, but the pattern was set, and every year the crowd grew. There was no g...

Read more: La Tomatina on Qualla

Image: 19Tarrestnom65 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/ezp2-la-tomatina-it-began-with-a-falling-giant.mp3 0:06 2 full La Tomatina: Banned, Buried, Reborn https://qualla.com/la-tomatina/ Photo credit StellarD, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the early 1950s the government of Francisco Franco banned La Tomatina precisely because it had no religious significance. Participants who threw tomatoes anyway were arrested. But the townspeople pushed back, and in 1957 they staged one of the great protests in the history of ...

Read more: La Tomatina on Qualla

Image: StellarD | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/ezp2-la-tomatina-banned-buried-reborn.mp3 0:06 3 full La Tomatina: The Morning of the Ham https://qualla.com/la-tomatina/ Photo credit Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez (Qoan), CC BY-SA 3.0. The battle is only the climax of a longer celebration. In the days beforehand Buñol holds a paella contest, sets off tomato-themed fireworks, and fills its medieval centre with music and parades. On the Wednesday morning, the fight cannot begin until someone wins the Palo Jabón -...

Read more: La Tomatina on Qualla

Image: Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez (Qoan) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/ezp2-la-tomatina-the-morning-of-the-ham.mp3 0:06 4 full La Tomatina: One Red Hour https://qualla.com/la-tomatina/ Photo credit Mike1979 Russia, CC BY-SA 3.0. For about an hour, the streets of Buñol run with pulp. The rules are simple and sensible: throw nothing but tomatoes, squash them first so they can't hurt anyone, keep clear of the trucks, and stop the moment the second pistol fires. When it ends, the town is ankle-deep in red, a...

Read more: La Tomatina on Qualla

Image: Mike1979 Russia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/ezp2-la-tomatina-one-red-hour.mp3 0:06 5 full La Tomatina: A Town of Nine Thousand Against the World https://qualla.com/la-tomatina/ Photo credit Rmartinsanchez, CC BY-SA 4.0. For decades anyone could join, and the crowds swelled until they overwhelmed a town of only about 9,000 people. So in 2013 the organisers capped attendance at 20,000 ticket-holders. Even limited, the reach is global - recent editions have drawn participants from more than 75 coun...

Read more: La Tomatina on Qualla

Image: Rmartinsanchez | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/p/2/la-tomatina-wp/ezp2-la-tomatina-a-town-of-nine-thousand-against-the-world.mp3 0:06 6 full