 Blood-red streams of tomato juice oozed through the streets of the tiny Spanish town of Bunol as tens of thousands of people hurled tonnes of squashy fruit in the world's biggest food fight.
With a thundering firework at midday signalling the start of the "Tomatina", five trucks dumped 120 tonnes of plum tomatoes into Bunol's narrow central street where 35,000 people were expectantly awaiting the ammunition.
Locals and visitors from around the globe lobbed the tomatoes at each other and, when the fruit turned to puree, reached down to whisk red froth into the air. The "People's Square" filled with the acidic sweet smell of tomatoes and slimy stained bodies. "We never do anything like this in Brisbane, we're all so controlled...It's insane," said an Australian visit. "It's bonkers!" said Clare Fuchs from London. "I don't think I'll be having a Bloody Mary this afternoon." Locals had draped plastic sheeting over their houses and some even boarded up windows but the town's white facades were still left spattered red. Locals of Bunol -- with a population of 9,600 -- say the tradition started in the mid-1940s, under the authoritarian rule of General Francisco Franco. Goltran Zanon, 70, locally recognised as one of the founding fathers of the now world-famous event, says it all began with kids pitching tomatoes at balloons during a balloon-flying show. Others say a group of youngsters started a food fight with their salad at lunchtime and it became a tradition. The event -- the highlight of a week-long festival -- was banned for a short time when revellers pelted a government official and the town held a funeral for its favourite fruit. "More than half the village showed up in mourning to bury an enormous tomato," Zanon said. But Pilar Masmano, 80, says the festival -- which costs the town hall 36,000 euros -- is not what it was. "It's just degenerate now," she said, adding that foreigners do not know how to throw a tomato as the locals do, squashing it first to ensure a satisfying splat rather than a painful thump. Alisa from Japan agreed: "He hit me in the eyes...It was very painful." As the fruity orgy wound down and the hoses came out to wash down the streets, die-hards made for the deepest pools of tomato and wallowed like pigs in mud. (Agencies) | 鮮紅的西紅柿汁流遍了西班牙小鎮布諾的大街小巷。數以萬計的人加入這場世界上規模最大的食品大戰，投擲了上百噸熟透的西紅柿。 中午時分，雷鳴般的煙火拉開了“番茄大戰”的帷幕。五輛大卡車將120噸西紅柿卸到布諾狹窄的中心街道，三萬五千人正在那里翹首以待西紅柿炮彈的到來。 當地居民和來自世界各國的游人相互扔著西紅柿。等水果成了醬，他們就伸手去攪和紅色的泡沫，弄得泡沫滿天飛。“人民廣場”上彌漫著西紅柿酸甜的味道，到處都是渾身粘糊糊的人。 “在布里斯班我們從來不做這樣的事。我們都很有節制，這樣做太瘋狂了。”一位澳大利亞游客說。 來自倫敦的克拉雷·富克斯說：“太瘋狂了！我想今天下午我都不想喝血瑪莉酒（番茄汁摻伏特加）了。” 當地的居民用塑料布蓋在房子上，有些人甚至用木板將窗戶堵起來，但是鎮上白色的外墻仍然被濺上了紅色斑點。 布諾鎮當地有9600人口。當地人說這個傳統始于20世紀四十年代中期，弗朗西斯科·佛朗哥將軍獨裁統治的時期。70高齡的戈爾特龍·薩農被當地人公認為這個聞名世界的節日的創始人之一。他說這個節日完全是因為在一次氣球展覽會上孩子們用西紅柿砸氣球而開始的。 也有人說是因為一群年輕人在吃午飯的時候用色拉來打架，從此就有了這個傳統節日。 這個活動是一周節日的高潮，一度被禁止過。當時狂歡者用西紅柿投擲政府官員。為此，小鎮居民為他們鐘愛的西紅柿舉行了葬禮。 “超過半數的村民參加了葬禮，埋葬了一只巨大的西紅柿。”薩農說。 然而80歲的皮拉爾·馬斯馬諾說這個花費了市政廳3萬6千歐元的節日已經不是以前的樣子了。 她說：“它已經變質了，”還說外國人不知道當地人如何扔西紅柿，應該先將西紅柿壓碎，這樣扔出去的西紅柿才會發出另人滿意的啪啪聲，而不是重重的地把別人打痛。 日本游客亞莉莎同意這樣的說法：“他擊中了我的眼睛，很疼。” 當狂歡降下帷幕的時候，當地人開始拿水管洗刷街道，而那些最頑固的人卻奔向最深的西紅柿坑，像豬在泥漿里一樣打滾。 （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2003-08-29 01:00
