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 zalučal tisti prvi usodni paradižnik, ki je sprožil prevrat La Tomatina? Pravzaprav ni znano. Morda je bil proti-frankovski upornik, morda karnevalska povorka, ki je šla malo čez rob. Najbolj priljubljena različica zgodbe pravi, so se l. 1945 med festivalom Los Gigantes (parada orjaških kaširanih lutk) domačini pripravljali uprizoriti pretep, s katerim bi pritegnili pozornost. V bližini so naleteli na zelenjadarski voz in se začeli obmetavati z zrelimi paradižniki. Nič hudega sluteči mimoidoči so se zapletli v dogajanje, ki se je kmalu razvnelo v neznansko zmešnjavo poletele zelenjave. Branjevce s paradižniki so pobudniki morali poplačati, a to ni preprečilo nadaljnjih paradižnikovih bojev – in nova tradicija je vzniknila. Oblasti so v skrbeh zaradi neukrotljivega stopnjevanja uveljavile, nato umaknile in v petdesetih znova vpeljale vrsto prepovedi. Nekateri od lokalnih prebivalcev, ki so kljubovali zakonodaji, so bili leta 1951 priprti, dokler javni protest ni zahteval njihove izpustitve. Najbolj poznano dejanje nasprotovanja zakonodaji se je odvilo l. 1957, ki so zagovorniki zaigrali pravcati paradižnikov pogreb – zaresen, s krsto in procesijo. Po letu 1957 se je lokalna oblast vdala v usodo in vzpostavila nov red, ki je pozdravljal prismuknjeno tradicijo. Čeprav so paradižniki v središču dogajanja, do obračuna v zaključku vodi celotedenska veselica. Gre za proslavljanje zaščitnikov kraja Buñol, Device Marije in sv. Ludvika Bertrana, s cestnimi povorkami, glasbo in ognjemeti, po veseli španski navadi. Da se pred bližajočimi se boji okrepčate, na predvečer postrežejo paello epskih razsežnosti, hvalnico značilni valencijanski jedi iz riža in morskih sadežev z žafranom in oljčnim oljem. Dandanes se ta razpuščeni festival podreja določeni meri reda. Prireditelji so se celo potrudil vzgojiti posebno vrsto ne prav okusnega paradižnika, nalašč za vsakoletno prireditev. Praznovanje se začne okrog 10. ure dopoldne, ko udeleženci planejo proti šunki, pritrjeni vrh namaščenega droga. Gledalci z vodo polivajo razvneteže, ki pojejo in plešejo po ulicah. Ko cerkveni zvon odbije poldne, v mesto prihrumijo kamioni, naloženi s paradižnikom, pospremljeni z vedno glasnejšim vzklikanjem "To-ma-te, to-ma-te!" Vodna brizgalna se sproži in začne se glavni dogodek. To je znak za začetek peštanja in lučanja paradižnika v vsesplošnem napadu na soudeležence. Daljnometni lučalci paradižnikov, napadalci iz bližine, srednje-daljinski horuk-metalci – ne glede na tehniko boste še pred koncem videti (in se boste tudi počutili) precej drugače. Po skoraj eni uri so od paradižnika premočeni bombaši prepuščeni igranju v morju brozgaste ulične omake, v kateri je komaj kak košček, ki bi še spominjal na paradižnik. Drugi pljusk iz brizgalne naznači konec bitke. |