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La Tomatina is a spectacle you don't want to miss

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La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town Buñol in Spain, a town located 30 km from the Mediterranean sea. La Tomatina is a spectacle in which more than 20,000 people squeeze into the small streets and go wild with 150,000 tomatoes. It always happens the last Wednesday in August and it's the highlight of the year in Buñol.

The night before La Tomatina, the streets are filled with delicious food stalls. On the square you will find paella cooked over wood fire and you can drink wine until the early hours in the morning. Early Wednesday morning at 9 am the first tomato throwers arrive.

There are various interpretations of the origin of this popular festival. According to some historians, its origin is due to a joke. A man was in the village square singing and playing music, when a group of young people who heard him sing badly started throwing tomatoes at him from a fruit and vegetables stall. The police intervened and ordered the tomato throwers to pay for the damage. Exactly one year later they armed themselves with even more tomatoes. And again the police intervened. Tomatina thus became an annual tradition. In the end the municipality decided in 1980 to organize the festival themselves to bring some order in the chaos. However it grew so quick that since 2013 a limit of 20,000 participants has been named. So if you want to be there then make sure to buy a ticket well in advance. By the way it is good to know that they use tomatoes that no longer can be eaten.

Where to stay

If you are looking for a special place to stay we recommend to stay 4.2 km from Buñol in Macastre at Villa Charlie Casa señorial. The guest house is almost like a museum and has a large garden and amazing good pool.



It is a very nice house and with a lot of charm. They get an excellent average rating of 9.3 on booking.com. 

How to get there

The most convenient way to get there is to take the train to Valencia. From Valencia you can take the bus to Buñol.

What's the weather like? 

Be prepared August is the hottest month. The average maximum temperature lies around 29.0°C (84.2°F). Click here for more climate information about Valencia.

This article was last updated on April 30, 2022.