50,000 People, 1 Street, 3 Tomatoes, and Some Broken Ribs

Hey all,
So. La Tomatina. I’m sure you are all wondering how that went! I guess most would have some crazy expectations, granted as the festival has been voted 3rd most craziest festival in the world (below Papilloma Running with the Bulls and Japan’s Penis Festival) or perhaps some were worried? Well both had warranted feelings. It was the most intense, insane, and idiotic experience of our lives. We thought we were going to die.

We had a 6am start – you want to get there early to get right into the action. We boarded our Busabout coach and got our orange Busabout goggles and arrived in Buňol at about 9am. Already, the streets were filled with young, drunken fools. I’ll have to admit their efforts were impressive – some were dressed up as Ninjas, some tennis players, synchronised swimming teams, just to name a few. But what had concerned me most were the packs of guys sculling beer and wine. We had been warned by many to wear multiple layers – particularly for the girls, as the guys will surround you in packs and rip your clothes off. I think that was a general fear shared by all females there. Last year, a girl had all her clothes ripped off – not cool.

We all started walking down the streets to get to the centre of it all, Galle del Cid. All the houses in the street were covered in massive sheets of plastic, and the locals were on their roof tops with hoses and buckets of water, throwing it down on the people below. There was cheers and screams of drunken young fun. At this point, everyone was pretty happy. The festival hadn’t quite begun yet. Basically, everyone gathers in the streets, and for a good 2 hours, the locals pour water and wine all over you while you organise yourself (if you can call it organisation?) into the streets. Then, at the stoke of 11am, a gun fires, and people run towards a flag pole in the town square, which is coated in soap and butter, and has a ham on top. As soon as someone gets the ham, the tomatoes come out. There are rules to this though, basically, it’s anyone’s game to get the ham, except if your female or a tourist. So, basically, only male locals can get the ham. If a female or a tourist attempts to get the ham, even if they’re half way up, they’ll rip them down by their shorts.

We were waiting for the trucks to come round in the main street, the Galle del Cid – and as this festival has gotten more and more popular, and the streets aren’t getting any wider, people began cramming the street, which meant that the people already in the middle were being crushed – including us. We were picked up by the current of people and pushed down one of the side streets. Then, the tomato truck came by, and with well over 50,000 people in the street no wider than 5 metres, there was no where for the people to go, other than down this street. Me and Adam were completely crushed amongst all of the people. There were groups of drunken idiots forming a chain of arms and pushing people down the street – however it turned into massive crushing. There were girls next to me who were crying from terror. Big guys who look strong enough to hold them selves up were pulled under the massive rips of people. And this was just from the first truck.
And then, even though we were neck to neck with anyone and everyone, we hear cries of ‘everyone move, there’s a baby’. And so we squish together as hard as we can to create some sort of path way for this complete idiot of a woman who thought it was a novel ideal to bring her 2 year old son into the crowd. This little Asian woman had her son in her arms, and they were both decked out in their La Tomatina top and goggles – this was a consciously made decision. But from this point on, the crowd just got worse and worse.

I was clinging onto Adam, and the crowd pushing was so fierce, I was wedged between two random people (half naked, sweating guys – delightful) and I was stuck so tight, I was moving with the crowd with my feet off the ground – and moving down the street. I lost my thongs and was completely barefoot on the slushy ground. After this massive flow of pushing, it calmed for about 2 minutes, and I was able to stand. I told Adam I lost my shoes, and he was not the least bit pleased. So I quickly had a look on the ground, found one, but not so sure where the other one was. Then I look over and see the back of my thong – and there’s a foot in it! Clearly not the owner of the shoe though – I can spot my shoes a mile away. I go up to this little Asian girl and say ‘can I please have my shoe back’ – she responds ‘oh, is this yours?’ Arrgh. Anyways I got my shoes back. But then there was no time for rest as the crowds started moving like an ocean again.

I’m clinging onto Adam, and he’s wiping his face onto his shoulder, but his arms are pinned around mine, voluntarily and involuntarily. He’s yelling to me something, but the crowds are so loud I can’t hear him, even though his mouth is up to my ears. I say back to him ‘do you want me to take your goggles off?’ – And he screams YES! – His goggles were fogging up and he couldn’t see. I had removed mine as soon as the crushing started. The pushing just kept getting worse and worse, and Adam and I began to get very scared. We were being pushed and crushed, and were losing our footing, and getting sucked under. The people surrounding us were terrified – we all said ‘this is not right’. This was not supposed to happen. The crushing just got worse and worse, to the point where my ribcage was being pushed against other people so hard I think I have broken a rib. I couldn’t breathe I was being crushed so hard. And poor Adam was baring the brunt of so much weight just to hold me up. We had to get out of there. But the festival lasts for 1 hour – 11am to 12pm – when the gun fires. And we were only half an hour in.

After the third truck passed, and the mass of crushing had eased for a few minutes, we ducked into the rapids of people and squeezed our way down to the end of the street, and out of there.

And out of this entire time – we saw a total of 3 tomatoes. Yep, that’s right, 3. When the first truck passed, they threw 3 tomatoes down the street, and moved on. The second truck threw shoes, bottles, and thongs (genius, what goes up must come down, and in this case, onto people’s head) and absolutely no tomatoes. The same for the third. Adam and I came out of this, not covered in tomatoes like we expected and were told we would, but just in other people’s sweat and red wine. Just imagine – 1 street no wider than about 4 metres, 50,000 drunken people squished in – and 34 degree heat. Absolute cesspool.

When we got out, some of the locals had their hoses out, so we washed ourselves down. We were just in shock. And thankful we were still alive. We were very scared. And we thought we were the only ones, until we met up with the rest of our group – who all said the same thing. They were thankful they were still alive. We’re not sure what happened, but we know that it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Further down the street was much better, but was the only area where tomatoes were being thrown and where there was enough room to move – but those who were in that area just came out with bruises from the tomatoes.

It was not a pleasant or fun experience. We payed a lot of money for this, with a tour company, and at the end of the day, all they did was take us there (not even on their busses – they used local Spanish busses) and said ‘woohoo this is so much fun, yay’ and made tomato jokes the whole way. For those who are keen to participate in next year’s festival (despite which I wouldn’t recommend it), do not go with a tour, its very easy to get to and from and no reason why you need to be on a tour for it. And second of all – please don’t bring infants to the festival – it’s a tad dangerous. Also, remember it is not all fun and games – if you get into the wrong area, you can and will get crushed. Don’t follow the crowds, and go the back way – to the top of the town square away from Galle del Cid. Once you’re in – it’s a fucking mission to get out.

I’m sure this story is not what you expected, perhaps it was? Me and Adam are fine. A little battered and bruised, and I’ve probably punctured a lung, but other than that, we’re in one piece. But we probably won’t be doing that again next year.

There are more tomatoes in the fridge at home than what we saw today. Very disappointing. But at least we stuffed our faces with Burger King afterwards, and have our own private double room in a 3 star hotel! Shit happens.

Love you all,

Ash and Adam in Valencia.x
Glad to be alive.