A record 40,000 people thronged this small eastern Spanish town to take part in the annual "tomatina" -- a festival of tomato-hurling that leaves participants and buildings covered in red juice, pips and skin.

Five trucks delivered 130 tonnes of the fruit for the hour-long combat which attracted foreign tourists, among them British, French, Argentinian and Japanese visitors, as well as locals, many wearing a minimum of clothing.

Tradition dicates that on the last Wednesday of August at 11:00am (0900 GMT) the trucks move down the central street of Bunol, normal population 20,000, to the town square depositing their load as they go.

On the stroke of noon the signal is given and for the next 60 minutes participants hurl tomatoes at each other until a gunshot signals the end of the fiesta.

The cleaning-up phase follows, with combattants washing the signs of battle away in the local river or under hundreds of temporary showers, while the facades of buildings are hosed down, emerging brighter than ever after their acid bath.

The festival has its origins in a battle between friends in the 1940s. The Valencia region in which Bunol is situated grows many kinds of fruit and vegetables and is regarded as Spain's market garden.

In the past people have been hurt during the tomato fight but no casualties were reported this year.









Crowds of people welcome a truck as it drove into a small square to dump a load of tomatoes during the 'Tomatina' tomato throwing fight in Bunol, Spain, Wednesday Aug. 25, 2004.