Having fun or wasting food?
For the people in Buñol, the tradition is all about fun: ‘We don’t need a reason to do this, we are having fun and just want to be free for an hour!’ A woman also thinks about her looks: ‘Tomatoes are very good for your skin and your hair!' Baba is shocked by the waste of tons of good food: ‘It’s very strange that people are fighting with tomatoes like this, when at the same time people are dying of hunger.’
Crashing bulls
There are more strange Spanish festivities, that attract many participants from all over the world. On the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, people run along with bulls through the streets of the city. Incited by the crowds, the bulls crush anyone who gets in their way. Fourteen people have died since the tradition started in 1924 and hundreds of people have been injured. But these numbers don’t seem to scare anyone off. The bulls are a big tourist attraction every year.
Giants on fire
In Valencia, enormous paper giants that make fun of local politicans and famous people, are set on fire during Las Fallas ('the fires'). Every year, only one giant, elected as the most beautiful, is not burnt down, but saved in a special museum. The firemen of the city have to protect the other buildings when the fire ceremony starts. The feast is dedicated to Saint Jospeh, the patron saint of carpenters.
This is the first item in our series ‘Strange European habits’. There are more to come!
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