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 paradižnikovo revolucijo? V bistvu nihče ne ve. Morda je bilo na vstaji proti Francovem režimu, morda na karnevalu, ki je ušel izpod nadzora. Po najpogosteje slišani razlagi je leta 1945, med Praznikom velikanov (povorke velikanskih lutk iz papirne kaše), nekaj tamkajšnjih prebivalcev želelo zanetiti pretep, s katerim bi pritegnili nekaj pozornosti. Naleteli so na voziček z zelenjavo in se začeli obmetavati z zrelimi paradižniki. Vpletli so se še nedolžni opazovalci, dokler se ni dogajanje zaostrilo do obsežnih spopadov z letečim sadjem. Pobudniki so morali prodajalcem paradižnika povrniti škodo, a to ni preprečilo novih dvobojev in s tem rojstva novega običaja. V strahu pred novimi nemiri je tedanja oblast leta 1950 uzakonila, preklicala in nato ponovno uveljavila niz prepovedi. Leta 1951 so bili meščani, ki so zakon kršili, zaprti, dokler ni javnost začela glasno pozivati k njihovi izpustitvi. Najbolj znan protest proti prepovedi obmetavanja s paradižnikom se je odvil leta 1957, ko so nasprotniki zakona priredili posmehljiv pokop paradižnika, vključno s krsto in sprevodom. Po tem letu so se vodilni sprijaznili z usodo, postavili nekaj pravil in sprejeli novo tradicijo. Kljub temu, da je v središču dogajanja paradižnik, je veliki finale na vrsti po tednu dni veseljačenja. Med tednom se odvija slavje v čast Devici Mariji in Sv. Louisu Bertrandu, zavetnikoma mesta Buñol, ko ulice napolnijo povorke, glasba in ognjemeti v veselem španskem slogu. Na predvečer bitke postrežejo z veličastno paello, paradno valencijsko jedjo iz riža in morskih sadežev z žafranom in olivnim oljem, za okrepčilo pred neizogibnim spopadom. Dandanes na tem vsakoletnem festivalu vlada določen red. Organizatorji so samo za to prireditev celo vzgojili posebno vrsto paradižnika, ki ni primerna za uživanje. Slavje se začne okoli desete ure zjutraj s tekmo v plezanju do šunke, pritrjene na vrhu namaščenega droga. Gledalci na ulicah med petjem in plesanjem tekmovalce polivajo z vodo. Ko cerkveni zvon odbije poldne, se v mesto zgrnejo tovornjaki, polni paradižnika, hkrati pa vzkliki »To-ma-te, to-ma-te!« dosežejo vrhunec. Nato ustrelijo iz vodnega topa, kar naznani začetek glavnega dogodka. To je zelena luč za stiskanje in metanje paradižnika v vsesplošnih napadih na soudeležence - od metov z visoko krivuljo iz večje razdalje, do likvidacij iz neposredne bližine ter srednje dolgih metov na horog. Ne glede na vašo tehniko boste videti povsem drugače, ko se tekma konča. In tako se boste tudi počutili. Skoraj uro pozneje se lahko sodelujoči, premočeni s paradižnikovim sokom, igrajo v potokih speštane mezge, v kateri je težko prepoznati karkoli podobnega paradižniku. Drugi topovski strel označi konec bitke. |