People in red: thousands hurl tomatoes in Spanish food fight

Thousands of revellers hurled some 145 tonnes of tomatoes at each other on Wednesday, celebrating the messy annual Tomatina festival in the eastern Spanish town of Bunol.

A fire cracker signal marked the start of the massive food fight at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) and during the next hour, six trucks loaded with over-ripe tomatoes drove through the small town's main street providing ammunition for festival-goers.

Some wore sunglasses or goggles as protection for their eyes as they covered each other in red pulp.

The Tomatina is said to have originated from a spontaneous bust-up amongst villagers in 1945. It was banned for a while during the 1950s at the height of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship, but today draws large crowds of locals as well as foreign tourists.