Who cast that first fateful tomato that started the La Tomatina revolution? The reality is no one knows. Maybe it was an anti-Franco rebellion, or a carnival that got out of hand. According to the most popular version of the story, during the 1945 festival of Los Gigantes (a giant paper mâché puppet parade), locals were looking to stage a brawl to get some attention. They happened upon a vegetable cart nearby and started hurling ripe tomatoes. Innocent onlookers got involved until the scene escalated into a massive melee of flying fruit. The instigators had to repay the tomato vendors, but that didn't stop the recurrence of more tomato fights—and the birth of a new tradition.
Fearful of an unruly escalation, authorities enacted, relaxed, and then reinstated a series of bans in the 1950s. In 1951, locals who defied the law were imprisoned until public outcry called for their release. The most famous effrontery to the tomato bans happened in 1957 when proponents held a mock tomato funeral complete with a coffin and procession. After 1957, the local government decided to roll with the punches, set a few rules in place, and embraced the wacky tradition.
Though the tomatoes take center stage, a week of festivities lead up to the final showdown. It's a celebration of Buñol's patron saints, the Virgin Mary and St. Louis Bertrand, with street parades, music, and fireworks in joyous Spanish fashion. To build up your strength for the impending brawl, an epic paella is served on the eve of the battle, showcasing an iconic Valencian dish of rice, seafood, saffron, and olive oil.
Today, this unfettered festival has some measure of order. Organizers have gone so far as to cultivate a special variety of unpalatable tomatoes just for the annual event. Festivities kick off around 10 a.m. when participants race to grab a ham fixed atop a greasy pole. Onlookers hose the scramblers with water while singing and dancing in the streets. When the church bell strikes noon, trucks packed with tomatoes roll into town, while chants of "To-ma-te, to-ma-te!" reach a crescendo.
Then, with the firing of a water cannon, the main event begins. That's the green light for crushing and launching tomatoes in all-out attacks against fellow participants. Long distance tomato lobbers, point-blank assassins, and medium range hook shots. Whatever your technique, by the time it's over, you will look (and feel) quite different. Nearly an hour later, tomato-soaked bombers are left to play in a sea of squishy street salsa with little left resembling a tomato to be found. A second cannon shot signals the end of the battle. | Kdo je vrgel tisti prvi usodni paradižnik, ki je sprožil revolucionarno La Tomatino? Pravzaprav nihče ne ve. Morda je bilo med protifrankističnim uporom ali karnevalom, ki je ušel izpod nadzora. Po najbolj priljubljeni različici zgodbe se je začelo leta 1945 med festivalom Los Gigantes (gre za parado orjaških lutk iz papirnate kaše), ko so se pozornosti željni domačini odločili, da bodo dogajanje popestrili s pretepom. Naleteli so na voziček z zelenjavo, ki je stal v bližini, in začeli metati zrele paradižnike. Sredi ognja so se znašli tudi nedolžni opazovalci in vsa stvar je prerasla v neizmerno zmešnjavo letečih plodov. Pobudniki so sicer morali prodajalcem paradižnika povrniti škodo, toda to ni preprečilo nadaljnjih paradižnikovih bitk – in rojstva nove tradicije. V strahu, da bi bitke preveč podivjale, so oblasti v 50. letih sprejele vrsto prepovedi, jih opustile in nato znova uvedle. Leta 1951 so domačine, ki so se upirali zakonu, zaprli, dokler ni javnost protestirala in zahtevala njihove izpustitve. Najbolj predrzno kljubovanje prepovedim se je zgodilo leta 1957, ko so zagovorniki paradižnikovih bitk uprizorili pravcati paradižnikov pogreb skupaj s krsto in procesijo. Po letu 1957 so oblasti klonile udarcem, vpeljale nekaj pravil in sprejele čudaško tradicijo. Čeprav je paradižnik glavna atrakcija festivala, se pred končnim obračunom zvrsti za cel teden proslav. Praznovanje je posvečeno zaščitnikoma mesteca Buñol, Devici Mariji in svetemu Ludviku Beltranu, in obsega ulične parade, glasbo in ognjemet, vse v veseljaškem španskem slogu. Da si udeleženci naberejo moči za bližajoči se spopad, se na predvečer bitke podkrepijo s paello epskih razsežnosti, ki hkrati služi tudi kot odlična promocija te slovite valencijske jedi iz riža, morskih sadežev, žafrana in olivnega olja. Danes ta praznik brez meja poteka z določeno mero reda. Organizatorji so šli celo tako daleč, da so vzgojili posebno sorto neokusnega paradižnika samo za ta vsakoletni dogodek. Slavje se začne ob 10. zjutraj s tekmovanjem, pri katerem si udeleženci prizadevajo prvi zagrabiti šunko, ki visi na vrhu spolzkega droga. Gledalci jih pri tem škropijo z vodo, medtem ko sami pojejo in plešejo po ulicah. Ko v zvoniku udari poldne, se v mesto pripeljejo tovornjaki, polni paradižnika, skandiranje množice "to-ma-te, to-ma-te!" pa doseže vrhunec. Nato se s sprožitvijo vodnega topa začne glavni dogodek. To je zelena luč za mečkanje in lučanje paradižnika v vsesplošnem napadu na soudeležence. Met v loku na dolge razdalje, napad iz neposredne bližine ali srednje dolgi "horog" preko glave – kakršnakoli je že vaša tehnika, do konca bitke bo vaš videz (in počutje) precej spremenjen(o). Kakšno uro kasneje s paradižnikom premočeni obstreljevalci obstanejo v morju zdrizaste ulične salse, v kateri bi težko našli še kaj podobnega paradižniku. Drugi topovski strel naznani konec bitke. |