Spain's La Tomatina festival draws thousands for annual tomato fight

Spain's renowned La Tomatina festival has kicked off, drawing thousands of participants who threw tomatoes at one another in the streets. The event left crowds thoroughly covered in tomato pulp as the traditional food fight unfolded.

La Tomatina is one of Spain's best-known and most unusual traditions, attracting large numbers of locals and tourists each year. During the festival, participants gather for a designated period of mass tomato-throwing in the streets, a spectacle that has become one of the country's most recognizable cultural events.

This year's edition once again brought out large crowds who took part in the tomato battle and emerged from it entirely coated in pulp.