La Tomatina

AurigaCrown Car Hire offers their clients ideas on different events and places to visit during their stay in Spain. Providing options for visits that are within easy reach with a rental car, nice routes, places to visit and from where to start. In this article some tips for visiting Valencia and its surroundings.

At 40 minutes from Valencia city we find the town Buñol, famous for its popular festival ¨La Tomatina¨. The festival is especially popular among young people that invade the small town for an almighty tomato fight, where participants throw tomatoes at each other. This year the festival is held on Wednesday August 31st.

The origin of the Tomatina dates back to 1944 when, as is said, when some disguised people came by, those who had not been able to join, began a battle with the participants and both ended up throwing vegetables at each other. The tomato fight was repeated the following year and after several permissions and prohibitions Tomatina was established as an official festival in 1959.

Later, when the festival was broadcasted on television, the Tomatina became popular throughout the whole country. For several years the council pays for tomatoes that are released during the battle, and with the large number of participants, they need about 125.000 kilos of them!

The festivities begin the night before and overnight the population of the village quadruples, in the morning there is a breakfast at the main square and by 11am a 30.000-strong army has prepared for action. Five bulbous, tomato-packed rockets are sent into the sky and the masses start their fight - it's every man and woman for themselves.

There are very few rules in La Tomatina: it is compulsory to squish your tomato before throwing it into the red blur of the crowd, other projectiles are not allowed. You don´t have to worry about running out of ammunition as ripe fruit is being brought in by trucks. Participants have two hours to hurl at thousands of enemies.

The aftermath of La Tomatina puts any blood-injected, horror-film set to shame. Don't count on recognising your friends in the red blur. Within hours, though, the town is transformed back to its normal condition.

A nice opportunity though to get rid of accumulated stress, plus the fact that the liquid of tomatoes is an excellent skin treatment, the Tomatina may be a good way to relax. Of course there is much more to do and see in and around Valencia. The city of Valencia offers an extensive amount of sights and experiences like the science park, the luxurious port area, the nice beaches, the old town, the lively nightlife, shopping, the famous Valencian gastronomy and surrounding areas like the nature reserve ¨La Albufera¨, ¨Sagunto¨ a Moorish citadel and ¨Alto Turia¨ an attractive valley great for picknicks and also an important vine-growing area. The commodity of a rental car will easily get you to all places. AurigaCrown has an office at Valencia airport so you can conveniently pick up your car directly upon arrival. Please check our website for more information on rental cars, fleet and prices.