 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(zhèn)布諾的大街小巷。數(shù)以萬(wàn)計(jì)的人加入這場(chǎng)世界上規(guī)模最大的食品大戰(zhàn)，投擲了上百?lài)嵤焱傅奈骷t柿。 中午時(shí)分，雷鳴般的煙火拉開(kāi)了“番茄大戰(zhàn)”的帷幕。五輛大卡車(chē)將120噸西紅柿卸到布諾狹窄的中心街道，三萬(wàn)五千人正在那里翹首以待西紅柿炮彈的到來(lái)。 當(dāng)?shù)鼐用窈蛠?lái)自世界各國(guó)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(mǎn)天飛。“人民廣場(chǎng)”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(lái)不做這樣的事。我們都很有節(jié)制，這樣做太瘋狂了。”一位澳大利亞游客說(shuō)。 來(lái)自倫敦的克拉雷·富克斯說(shuō)：“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(dāng)?shù)氐木用裼盟芰喜忌w在房子上，有些人甚至用木板將窗戶(hù)堵起來(lái)，但是鎮(zhèn)上白色的外墻仍然被濺上了紅色斑點(diǎn)。 布諾鎮(zhèn)當(dāng)?shù)赜?600人口。當(dāng)?shù)厝苏f(shuō)這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)始于20世紀(jì)四十年代中期，弗朗西斯科·佛朗哥將軍獨(dú)裁統(tǒng)治的時(shí)期。70高齡的戈?duì)柼佚垺に_農(nóng)被當(dāng)?shù)厝斯J(rèn)為這個(gè)聞名世界的節(jié)日的創(chuàng)始人之一。他說(shuō)這個(gè)節(jié)日完全是因?yàn)樵谝淮螝馇蛘褂[會(huì)上孩子們用西紅柿砸氣球而開(kāi)始的。 也有人說(shuō)是因?yàn)橐蝗耗贻p人在吃午飯的時(shí)候用色拉來(lái)打架，從此就有了這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日。 這個(gè)活動(dòng)是一周節(jié)日的高潮，一度被禁止過(guò)。當(dāng)時(shí)狂歡者用西紅柿投擲政府官員。為此，小鎮(zhèn)居民為他們鐘愛(ài)的西紅柿舉行了葬禮。 “超過(guò)半數(shù)的村民參加了葬禮，埋葬了一只巨大的西紅柿。”薩農(nóng)說(shuō)。 然而80歲的皮拉爾·馬斯馬諾說(shuō)這個(gè)花費(fèi)了市政廳3萬(wàn)6千歐元的節(jié)日已經(jīng)不是以前的樣子了。 她說(shuō)：“它已經(jīng)變質(zhì)了，”還說(shuō)外國(guó)人不知道當(dāng)?shù)厝巳绾稳游骷t柿，應(yīng)該先將西紅柿壓碎，這樣扔出去的西紅柿才會(huì)發(fā)出另人滿(mǎn)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(shuō)法：“他擊中了我的眼睛，很疼。” 當(dāng)狂歡降下帷幕的時(shí)候，當(dāng)?shù)厝碎_(kāi)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(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2003-08-29 01:00
