LA TOMATINA - ANOTHER GREAT SPANISH FESTIVAL ...

                                              LA *T*OMATINA, SPAIN

Each summer, the 10,000 residents of Buñol (below) like to paint the town red. They are joined in this by thousands of tourists who visit the Valencian town to take part in the world's largest tomato fight, the Tomatina.

What began as a foodfight of,err, tomatoes, between neighbours back in 1945 has
grown into an international event. But this year one thing has changed.

The Tomatina used to be a free-for-all, but like many other cultural mainstays of
the Spanish calendar, it has been hit by the recession. For the first time, this year's visitors have had to peel off (sorry!) at least €10 (£9) for the privilege of pelting each other and random passersby with tomatoes. For €750, you can go even further, and jump onto one of the trucks that carry the tomatoes into the town, thus giving yourself the advantage of launching the first attacks.

The fact that throwing a tomato is no longer free is being seen as a sign of the times. La Tomatina has become "a great metaphor for the economic crisis that is crippling Spain," according - rather melodramatically - to El País newspaper: "It is an irresistible image: the round, red fruit bursting like a mirror of the bursting of the real estate bubble, the financial bubble, the debt bubble." 

Looks though, judging from these photos from the festival, as if "crisis" is the last thing on anyone's mind!

These scenes remind anyone of events from the late great Dexter?

Enjoy!

Nora