Page 63 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

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FORGET LA FESTIVALS
TOMATINA?

THE BUILD-UP La Tomatina, the tomato-
throwing free-for-all that is held in Buñol, AND PARTIES
near Valencia, every August, has become a
magnet for revelers, who come dressed in
disposable clothes and spend an exhilarating
hour pelting each other with overripe fruit.
THE LETDOWN La Tomatina may have
started as a local affair, but thanks to media
hype it has become swamped by outsiders,
including many foreigners. There is only so
much room in the narrow streets of town, and
ABOVE A jubilant, wine-drenched crowd after the Haro Wine Battle, Spain not everyone gets their hands on the tomatoes
before they’ve been reduced to pulp by
repeated throwing. Surprisingly, tomatoes
Haro Wine by “baptizing” each other with wine. It wasn’t long can be very painful projectiles and some
people in the throng can get vicious.
before this ritual became a messy wine battle that
Battle overshadowed the event’s more sober formalities. GOING ANYWAY? The event takes place on
Today, the pattern of the battle is well established.
the morning of the last Wednesday in August.
vs La Tomatina It begins with a procession of some 5,000 people, Before you turn up, make sure you have
wearing white T-shirts and clutching pieces of
memorized the rules: don’t take bottles or
religious paraphernalia, including crucifixes and
other potentially dangerous objects with you;
bibles, from Haro to the site of an isolated chapel, don’t tear anyone else’s T-shirt; squash every
If you liked La Tomatina, you’ll love the messy, where a flag is hoisted and a Mass said. Then battle tomato before you throw it, so it isn’t too
vino-fueled fiesta that is the Haro Wine Battle commences, and pristine T-shirts soon turn a deep hard; don’t get in the way of the tomato-
shade of purple as over 20,000 liters of wine are bearing lorries; and stop throwing when you
hear the signal to end the fight.
thrown around. Anyone within range is a fair target
NEED TO KNOW
– including photographers and television camera
LOCATION Haro Wine "UMBOUJD 0 DFBO crews, whose equipment is covered in protective
Battle takes place in the
#JMCBP
village of Riscos de Bilibio, plastic – and any delivery system is permitted. Water
which is 4 miles (6 km) )"30 ;BSBHP[B pistols, botas (leather drinking bottles), plastic bottles,
north of Haro, in La Rioja
in northern Spain #BSDFMPOB and buckets are the common weapons of war, but
10356("- .BESJE
WHEN experienced participants who really mean business
The fun takes place on 41"*/ come equipped with ultra-modern industrial
June 29 each year crop-sprayers fed by tanks on their backs.
VISITORS PER 4FWJMMF .FEJUFSSBOFBO
4FB
YEAR 5,000 When supplies of ammunition have been
exhausted, the berry-colored crowd troops ABOVE Revelers in a vat of squashed tomatoes,
down the hill to breakfast on snails and red wine. La Tomatina, Buñol, Spain
The tomato-throwing festival of La Tomatina seems They then return in procession to Haro, drying off
to offer an unparalleled opportunity for a chaotic, in the sunshine on the way, where they continue
bizarre adrenalin release – until you hear about the festivities with singing, dancing, fireworks,
Haro’s Wine Battle, that is. This equally anarchic, bullfights, and, of course, more drinking. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
lesser-known event, which takes place in northern
Spain earlier in the summer and involves throwing Getting There and Around (www.lacuevadedonaisabela.
The nearest international airports com), which is in a restored
red wine, not tomatoes, all over the place, certainly
to Haro are at Vitoria, 27 miles 17th-century building.
gives the over-hyped food fight a run for its money. (44 km) to the northeast, and Where to Stay
Unlike the Tomatina, which is a relatively recent Bilbao, 57 miles (91 km) to the Stay at the charming Los
invention with no tradition behind it, the Haro Wine north. Logroño, 26 miles (42 km) Agustinos in Haro (www.
Battle has a long and interesting history. According to the southeast, has a domestic hotellosagustinos.es).
airport. Haro is just off the A68
to a royal proclamation of 1290, the small wine- Daytime Temperature
motorway, and has bus and
producing town of Haro had to reassert, annually, rail connections with Bilbao, 81°F (27°C) in late June.
its right of possession over the vineyards where the Zaragoza and Barcelona. Budget per Day for Two
battle now takes place, against a claim by the Where to Eat US$300 including food, lodging,
nearby town of Miranda del Ebro. The event began Riojan cuisine is very varied and and transportation.
as a low-key bounds-beating ceremony that makes great use of fresh fruit Website
and vegetables. A good place to www.haro.org/ingles/turismo1.
involved hoisting a flag and holding Mass, but in
eat is La Cueva de Doña Isabela htm
1906, participants decided to liven proceedings up ABOVE Locals harvesting grapes, Haro, Spain

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