More than 40,000 people took part in the world's biggest tomato fight

Spain's The Tomatino has 40,000 covered from head to (ma) toe

Pulp friction ... festival fun at the Tomatino tomato fight in Spain

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The Tomatino is an annual battle that takes place in the Spanish town of Buñol on the last Wednesday in August.

 

Canned ... revellers in the thick of it at the Tomatino in Spain

 

Revellers hurled 120 tons of the specially-produced fruit at one another and swam around in the sea of tomato pulp and juice that covered the streets.

The messy mayhem dates back to 1944 when a crowd of young men turned a local parade into a brawl, using tomatoes from a nearby fruit and veg stand as weapons.

Youngsters then repeated the fight the following year but this time brought tomatoes from home – and the event was unofficially established.

 

Seeing red ... a girl takes a face-full of tomato at Tomatino in Spain

 

 

Video: World's biggest tomato fight

40,000 people chuck 120 tons of tomatoes at 'Tomatina' in Bunol, Spain

• Lifestyle

 

Now the Tomatino lasts an hour – the fun starts at around 10am as revellers attempt to climb the 'palo jabon', the equivalent of a greasy pole, to claim a ham perched on top.

The second someone manages to drop the ham from the pole, a start signal is given and the true chaos can begin.

Fighters in trucks then shed their huge load of tomatoes until a second signal is given to stop exactly an hour later.

 

Squelch ... revellers up to their neck in tomato at Tomatino in Spain

 

Incredibly, the acidity of the tomato juice helps cleans the village's streets and a quick hose down from local fire trucks leaves the ancient cobblestones pristine.

If only the same could be said for those taking part!

Similar Tomatina-style events have since sprung up in America, Colombia and Chile.