Following on from Eating in Spain – Barcelona – Part 3 – La Boqueria, we took the train south to Valencia for two nights to take part in the 2019 La Tomatina (annual tomato throwing/slinging fight).
Did you know that Valencia is the town where paella was born? We wanted to try Valencian-style paella, which is made with chicken, rabbit, snails and flat green beans.
Restaurante Puerta del Mar
We arrived in Valencia just in time for dinner, and wandered over to Restaurante Puerta del Mar near the main city centre. After ordering a wine and coca cola zero, a whole basket of various breads, olives, chips and dips arrived at the table. Carb overload!
We of course ordered the Valencian paella which comes served in a massive pan for two people. (It’s an even bigger pan for four people). There’s a smokiness to the rice on the edges which are crispy. Apparently this is a thing! The rice is meant to be left toasted and crispy at the bottom of the pan. There wasn’t too much rabbit so it didn’t taste gamey at all. We both really enjoyed this flavoursome paella.
Restaurante La Alegria de la Huerta
We were only in Valencia for two nights as we were doing La Tomatina for a full day (more on that below). On our second and last night in Valencia, we headed towards the beach to have dinner at Restaurante La Alegria de la Huerta.
After ordering drinks, white bread, fresh tomatoes, and a garlic aioli was provided for us to make our own tomato bread. I remember the garlic being quite potent but it tasted good.
During my time in Spain, I’ve been amazed at all the different types of paella-esque and rice dishes. There are far more varieties than I had ever known. Of course I wanted to try all of them during our time in the country. So this time we tried lobster fideua (cooked similar to paella but using noodles instead of rice).
Sadly the lobster was over cooked, but the fideua flavour overall was delicious and so moreish. We actually polished off this pan! We were so full but just kept eating..and eating.
Once we asked for the bill, our waiter came by and gave us some a sampler of a house made alcoholic beverage. It was far too strong for me, and even Mr FPJ only sipped it and put it aside but it was a nice gesture from the restaurant.
If only the lobster wasn’t over cooked! Good views of the beach, nice sea breeze, and a great location to watch people go by.
La Tomatina
Why La Tomatina? Ever since I heard news of a legit tomato-throwing fight about a decade ago, it made its way onto my bucket list. And then I finally made it there on Wednesday 28 August 2019.
We stayed in Valencia purely because it’s the closest town (1 hour on the bus) to Bunol, where the fight takes place.
There are a few ways you can do it.
- Buy a train/bus ticket from Valencia, Barcelona or whichever town you’re staying in to Bunol, and pay for the entrance ticket
- Book into a tour which will organise a mix of transport, accommodation and the entrance ticket. Tours can be 1-4 days depending on what you want out of it.
We were originally just going to do it all ourselves and simply buy the entrance ticket and train ticket. But knowing where to go and how to get back was a hassle, and we just wanted to be taken care of. So we booked into a 2 night tour with company ‘Festivals All Around’ for 200€ each. It was expensive considering the accommodation was at a university dorm (with private bathroom plus breakfast included), but we thought it would be worth it as the organised bus picks you up at the accommodation, takes you to Bunol, and takes you home afterwards. There were also multiple sangria parties and a beach trip thrown in.
5.30am – Our day had started and we got ready (we specifically purchased cheap or second-hand white t-shirts, white canvas shoes and shorts for this event), and headed down for some breakfast, to be outside for the bus at 6.00am.
6.30am – As everything runs on Spanish time, the bus didn’t actually leave Valencia until 6.30am.
7.30am – We arrived in Bunol and joined the masses of other buses and people to make our trek into town. Festivals All Around secured its own private spot in the outskirts of Bunol so that everyone on the tour had some space to relax and party. Food and beverages are sold throughout the town as well as in the Festivals All Around camp. The free sangria party commenced and people were slinging back sangrias from 8.00am. Live music and entertainment was provided for the 2+ hours at the camp.
10.00am – Time to trek into town (about 25 minutes) to the actual street where La Tomatina is held to find a good spot to stand. The street is packed. Tarps cover the buildings so as to not get any tomato splatter stains. We head down the street with the hopes of finding the greased pole with a ham on top (that adventure starts a little earlier where people climb over each other to win the ham) but I stop at one of the tomato-dump stations to wait as the crowd is already thick and huge. Locals inside the buildings dump buckets of water or hose down people from their windows and balconies. It’s inevitable that you’ll get wet. And so we wait.
11.00am – La Tomatina begins with the horn sounding loudly, and cheers erupting from the crowd. Goggles on, we wait for the first truck to arrive and unload its tomato contents. The truck’s horn sounds deafeningly, signalling the sea of people in the street to back up against the walls to let the truck pass. It seems impossible. There are so many people in the street. But it miraculously happens as we’re all literally crammed in like sardines against each other, not breathing. And then we are attacked with tomatoes.
See video below of the first truck. Some people win a lottery to be IN the trucks to throw the tomatoes out at everyone.
I’m going to be honest when I say, yes it does hurt. People are meant to crush the tomatoes before throwing them, but I can honestly say that some were not crushing them first. We soon learnt to stand with our backs to the truck so that our backs could get the brunt of those uncrushed tomatoes. A whole tomato thrown at the neck is not fun.
Another video of the truck closer to us this time. Look at the brutal force!
It doesn’t look like many tomatoes at this stage, but trust me, it soon turned into a river of red. Here’s a video below of La Tomatina in full swing (excuse the man’s swearing).
The fighting only lasts 1 hour and we made it count. In all honesty, that single hour was SO MUCH FREAKIN FUN. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Who wouldn’t want to throw food at a random stranger? Or maybe that’s just a quirk of mine? Either way, I was slinging those bad boys, kicking up the red muck and splashing into tomato puddles without a single care in the world. One girl had what must have been a watery and tomato-filled sangria cup in her hand, and while walking behind Mr FPJ, proceeded to tip the cup down the back of his t-shirt (which didn’t matter by this stage as we were both completely red). But I took my revenge with tomato-filled guns (by guns I mean my hands) at the ready, and threw it all down her neck, chest and shoulder. Take that.
12.00pm – The horn sounds at 12 noon, signalling the end of La Tomatina. The crowds have thinned by this stage with probably only a quarter of the people from the start. We look back at the river of tomato down the street, and join others to do some tomato-angels on the ground.
We trudge back to the Festivals All Around Camp which have outdoor public ‘showers’. This is basically a small hose dangling from the wall with not much water pressure. There are about 15 of these hoses and queues have already formed when we get there. I wait about 20 minutes before it’s my turn. Washing out the tomato chunks in hair was the worst part, and I didn’t get it all out.
All clothing is thrown into the trash (believe me it stunk) and we change into clean clothes, get some lunch, and relax.
2.00pm – The bus departs for Valencia.
The Festivals All Around tour would suit the younger Contiki crowd with all the sangria parties (not my thing). It was a long day but the tomato fight itself was awesome. Lots of fun and plenty of memories.
Tips for La Tomatina
If you’re planning to go to La Tomatina:
- Leave your valuables at home
- If you MUST take your phone, buy a proper plastic cover protector for it that can hang around you neck. Phones in your pockets will slip out. Mr FPJ purchased one for 5€ on-site and is very glad he spent that money. You’d be able to get a cheaper one beforehand.
- If you have a fabric watch-band, don’t wear it. It will stink.
- Wear clothes and shoes you can throw away or go second-hand shopping. It will all stink. There are bins provided and by the end of the day, it’s filled with everyone’s clothes and shoes.
- I wore a baseball cap to keep most of the tomato bits out of my scalp. It does help!
- Definitely bring swimming goggles. There’s nothing worse than picking acidic tomato bits and juice out of your eyes and then not being able to see. The goggles do fog up a little but at least you’re somewhat protected. Some people even wore ski goggles!
- There are some locals that have a hose and you can wash off by giving them a few Euro.
Next, we leave Valencia and travel to Granada to continue our Spanish leg of the holiday.
Some previous posts of Spain below:
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