Google doodle celebrates Spain's tomato-throwing festival 'La Tomatina'

3 months ago

Today is the 70th anniversary of Spain’s annual festival La Tomatina, which takes place in the small Valencian village Bunol.

Each year on the last Wednesday of August thousands of tourists and locals travel to Bunol to take part in the world’s biggest tomato-throwing event.

For many, the joy of chucking a tomato close-range into the face of a loved one is worth waiting all year for.

And Google Doodle have marked the occasion with an animated doodle.

Hidden among mounds of deliciously squishy-looking tomatoes and gleeful revellers you can just about make out the name of the search engine.

It’s vaguely hypnotising.

Of course, we don’t want to look too long at it, or we’ll be wanting to join in.

According to the festival’s official website, the tomato-throwing fiesta is preceded with a paella cooking contest. On the day itself, no tomatoes can be thrown until one of the participants has successfully climbed up a greased pole known as a cockaigne pole and retrieved a ham from the top of it.

A canon then signals the start of the juicy mahem.

As they say: Keep calm and throw tomatoes.