How Many Tomatoes Are Used at La Tomatina? The Numbers Revealed!

How Many Tomatoes Are Used at La Tomatina?

Answer: Between 120 to 150 tons of tomatoes get hurled through the streets of Buñol every year during La Tomatina according to official figures from Buñol Council!

That’s roughly 120,000 to 150,000 kilograms of overripe fruit splattered across buildings, people, and pavements in one hour.

La Tomatina is the world’s biggest food fight, and the tomato count backs that up when every last Wednesday of August, thousands of people pelt each other with soft, squishy tomatoes until the streets look like a crime scene.

And believe me, the question of How Many Tomatoes Are Used At La Tomatina is one that is ALWAYS asked of us!

Breaking Down the Numbers

120 to 150 tons sounds massive until you break it down. With 20,000 participants (the current cap), that’s about 6 to 7.5 kilograms of tomatoes per person. Spread across an hour, it’s actually pretty reasonable for a food fight of this scale.

The festival used to allow up to 50,000 people before they introduced ticketing. These days it’s capped at around 20,000 for safety, which means roughly the same amount of tomatoes spread among fewer people.

Where Do All These Tomatoes Come From?

The tomatoes used at La Tomatina aren’t your standard supermarket varieties.

They’re low-grade or overripe fruit that wouldn’t make it to shop shelves anyway. Farmers in regions like Extremadura grow these specifically for the festival, timing their harvests to hit late August.

These tomatoes are chosen because they’re soft and burst easily on impact. Nobody wants a rock-hard tomato smacking them in the face. The softer varieties splatter nicely without causing injuries.

Trucks haul the tomatoes into Buñol from various tomato-growing regions across Spain. They arrive in the morning, get loaded onto festival trucks, then get dumped into the crowds once the starting signal fires.

The exact tonnage varies year to year depending on harvest quality and planning, but it consistently sits around that 120 to 150 ton mark.

Are They Wasting Good Food?

This comes up every year. People see 150 tons of tomatoes getting thrown about and think it’s wasteful.

Here’s the thing: these aren’t tomatoes you’d eat anyway. They’re overripe, too small, oddly shaped, or otherwise unsuitable for normal sale. Farmers grow them specifically knowing they’re festival tomatoes, not food tomatoes.

Without La Tomatina, these tomatoes would likely end up as compost or animal feed anyway. At least this way they’re part of a massive cultural event that brings tourism and money into Buñol.

It’s not like they’re raiding supermarket shelves. These are tomatoes that were never going to feed anyone in the traditional sense.

The Actual Amount of Tomatoes Used

To put 120 to 150 tons in perspective:
A typical lorry carries about 20 to 25 tons. That means 5 to 7 lorry loads of tomatoes get dumped into Buñol’s streets during the festival.

Those trucks roll through the crowds unloading their cargo while participants grab handfuls and start throwing.

The entire supply gets used up within that one hour. By the end, there are no whole tomatoes left, just pulp covering everything and everyone.

What Type of Tomatoes Are Used?

The tomatoes used at La Tomatina are typically Pera tomatoes (tomate pera) or similar varieties grown in the Extremadura region. These aren’t your standard round salad tomatoes.

Pera tomatoes are elongated, softer when ripe, and have thinner skins that burst easily. They’re perfect for throwing because they splatter on impact rather than bouncing off like a cricket ball. The flesh breaks down quickly, creating that signature tomato pulp that coats everything.

These varieties are also cheaper to grow in bulk and ripen faster, which matters when you need 150 tons ready for a specific date in August. The farmers growing them know exactly what they’re producing and when it needs to arrive.

The tomatoes arrive slightly overripe, which makes them even softer. Nobody wants a firm tomato flying at their head. The mushier, the better for safety and for creating that red river effect in the streets.

Size matters too. The tomatoes used are generally small to medium. Larger tomatoes carry more weight and can hurt when thrown hard. Smaller ones are easier to grip, easier to throw, and cause less impact.

Were Tomatoes Actually Used in the First Fight?

Here’s where it gets interesting. The original 1945 incident that started La Tomatina might not have involved tomatoes at all, at least not initially.

Most accounts suggest the first fight started with vegetables from a nearby market stall during a local parade or festival. Some versions say it was tomatoes, others mention various vegetables and produce being grabbed and thrown in the heat of the moment.

What’s fairly certain is that tomatoes became the projectile of choice pretty quickly. They’re messy, they’re dramatic, and Spain grows loads of them. By the time La Tomatina became an annual thing in the early 1950s, it was definitely tomatoes being thrown.

The shift to exclusively tomatoes makes sense. Cucumbers and peppers don’t splatter the same way. Onions would actually hurt. Tomatoes hit that sweet spot of being soft enough to be safe but satisfying enough to create proper chaos.

Whether the very first thrown item in 1945 was a tomato or a cucumber is honestly lost to history. But tomatoes took over fast and never let go, probably because they’re the perfect food fight ammunition.

La Tomatina Experts: What Do We Think Of All These Tomatoes?

Well, we love them, can’t get enough!

And if you’re planning to attend La Tomatina, you’ll definitely get your share of those 120 to 150 tons, so why not consider joining 20,000 other people in the tomato fight.

Our top tip: Bring a change of clothes and make sure to get your La Tomatina Tickets from a reputable supplier or tour operator such as PP Travel.

Cheers and thanks for reading!

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Hope to see you there next year for La Tomatina 2026!