西班牙番茄大战：一场全民参与的红色狂欢
On the last Wednesday of every August, the narrow streets of Buñol, a quiet town near Valencia, turn into a battlefield of squashed fruit. Thousands of people from all corners of the globe come together for La Tomatina, an hour-long tomato-throwing frenzy that leaves the ground ankle-deep in red pulp. What began as a spontaneous street brawl among local youths in 1945 has evolved into one of the world’s most famous food fights, drawing more than 20,000 participants each year.
Before the chaos begins, shopkeepers spend the morning covering their storefronts with massive plastic sheets—a ritual as important as the event itself. Trucks rumble through the crowd, laden with over 100 metric tons of overripe tomatoes. At the sound of a rocket, the trucks release their cargo, and for sixty frantic minutes, strangers pelt each other with a torrent of ripe ammunition. The only rule is simple: squish each tomato before throwing it to avoid injuries, and stop immediately when the second rocket fires.
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