Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
(26 Aug 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bunol - 26 August 2026
1. Various of people participating in La Tomatina festival
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mazhar Khan (left) and Sanya Khan, 40-year-old couple from India:
“It was fantastic, absolutely well managed, we are from India, this is our first time being in La Tomatina. It has been a dream from over a decade, we have an Indian movie - “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (“You Only Live Once”) I saw it there and ever since then we wanted to come. “
Sanya Khan : "Bye"
3. Couple leaving
4. Group of friends at the festival covered in red pulp and tomato juice
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Gurpreet Singh, 31-year-old office worker, visitor from India:
“It was amazing, it was amazing, it was a lot of tomatoes, and we were planning for four years and we finally made it this year, It was really an amazing experience.”
6. Water splashed on participants from balconies
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Luke Williams, 33-year-old programmer, visitor from UK:
“I’m from the UK, it was absolute chaos, I need glasses so I couldn't even see what was going on, I was just seeing red tomatoes everywhere.”
8. Couple covered in red pulp and tomato juice
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Joanna Wytrzyszczewska, 32-year-old visitor from Poland:
“Way more crazy than we expected, we came because we were inspired by a movie, it was better than the movie.”
10. Mid of people on the ground
11. Residents throwing water from balconies
12. Various of people at La Tomatina festival
STORYLINE:
Thousands of revelers descended on Buñol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight, where they painted the small Spanish town red with up to 165 tons of overripe tomatoes.
Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at the revelers — who, in turn, hurled them at one another.
Their white shirts soon turned pink and red while pop songs blasted from speakers.
At one point, police appeared to use pepper spray to disperse an area of the crowd, but a festive vibe quickly resumed.
The messy melee takes place for over an hour in the town, where buildings are covered with tarps ahead of the festivities.
Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival traces its origins to a food fight in 1945.
La Tomatina became an annual tradition before Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco banned it in the 1950s.
Televised media attention in the 1980s helped turn the festival into a national event, and eventually, an international attraction.
More than 20,000 people had been expected to take part this year, with the Spanish news agency EFE reporting this week that roughly 40% of participants over the past three years have been tourists from outside Spain.
There has been a notable jump in visitors from India in recent years, following the 2011 Bollywood movie “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (“You Only Live Once”), in which three friends take a road-trip through Spain during an extended bachelor party.
The film recreated La Tomatina, introducing the festival to many Indians.
“It was amazing, it was amazing, it was a lot of tomatoes, and we were planning for four years and we finally made it this year, It was really an amazing experience," said Gurpreet Singh, a 31-year-old office worker, visiting from India.
Similar tomato-flinging events have taken place in Florida, London, Amsterdam, the Colombian town of Sutamarchán and Hyderabad, India.
Non-local attendees pay 15 euros ($17.50) for a ticket. The first and only rule: Squash your tomatoes before hurling them to avoid injuries.
Find out more about AP Archive: aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: instagram.com/APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/66dca4cb33ec4291862dff770bea73ea
(26 Aug 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bunol - 26 August 2026
1. Various of people participating in La Tomatina festival
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mazhar Khan (left) and Sanya Khan, 40-year-old couple from India:
“It was fantastic, absolutely well managed, we are from India, this is our first time being in La Tomatina. It has been a dream from over a decade, we have an Indian movie - “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (“You Only Live Once”) I saw it there and ever since then we wanted to come. “
Sanya Khan : "Bye"
3. Couple leaving
4. Group of friends at the festival covered in red pulp and tomato juice
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Gurpreet Singh, 31-year-old office worker, visitor from India:
“It was amazing, it was amazing, it was a lot of tomatoes, and we were planning for four years and we finally made it this year, It was really an amazing experience.”
6. Water splashed on participants from balconies
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Luke Williams, 33-year-old programmer, visitor from UK:
“I’m from the UK, it was absolute chaos, I need glasses so I couldn't even see what was going on, I was just seeing red tomatoes everywhere.”
8. Couple covered in red pulp and tomato juice
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Joanna Wytrzyszczewska, 32-year-old visitor from Poland:
“Way more crazy than we expected, we came because we were inspired by a movie, it was better than the movie.”
10. Mid of people on the ground
11. Residents throwing water from balconies
12. Various of people at La Tomatina festival
STORYLINE:
Thousands of revelers descended on Buñol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina food fight, where they painted the small Spanish town red with up to 165 tons of overripe tomatoes.
Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at the revelers — who, in turn, hurled them at one another.
Their white shirts soon turned pink and red while pop songs blasted from speakers.
At one point, police appeared to use pepper spray to disperse an area of the crowd, but a festive vibe quickly resumed.
The messy melee takes place for over an hour in the town, where buildings are covered with tarps ahead of the festivities.
Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival traces its origins to a food fight in 1945.
La Tomatina became an annual tradition before Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco banned it in the 1950s.
Televised media attention in the 1980s helped turn the festival into a national event, and eventually, an international attraction.
More than 20,000 people had been expected to take part this year, with the Spanish news agency EFE reporting this week that roughly 40% of participants over the past three years have been tourists from outside Spain.
There has been a notable jump in visitors from India in recent years, following the 2011 Bollywood movie “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (“You Only Live Once”), in which three friends take a road-trip through Spain during an extended bachelor party.
The film recreated La Tomatina, introducing the festival to many Indians.
“It was amazing, it was amazing, it was a lot of tomatoes, and we were planning for four years and we finally made it this year, It was really an amazing experience," said Gurpreet Singh, a 31-year-old office worker, visiting from India.
Similar tomato-flinging events have taken place in Florida, London, Amsterdam, the Colombian town of Sutamarchán and Hyderabad, India.
Non-local attendees pay 15 euros ($17.50) for a ticket. The first and only rule: Squash your tomatoes before hurling them to avoid injuries.
Find out more about AP Archive: aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: instagram.com/APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/66dca4cb33ec4291862dff770bea73ea
