The 120,000 kilos of tomatoes that this Wednesday will be used as festive "ammunition" in the Tomatina de Buñol (Valencia) have begun to be loaded onto trucks and are ready to leave from the Citrimed de La Llosa cooperative, in Castellón, towards the "campo of battle" of this traditional and international festival.
The cooperative has loaded this Tuesday all the tomatoes -10,000 kilos less than in La Tomatina in 2022- in six trucks, which will be ready to leave for the Valencian town around 2:00 p.m., according to what its manager, Javier Mechó, told EFE. .
He explained that they are tomatoes of the pear variety, that "this year they are better" and that they have been in cold rooms for a month "so that they become soft", and he pointed out that they are fruits that leave an intense red color in the streets "being squeezed".
In the cooperative they have spent a month of intense work to get to today and for the tomatoes to be loaded onto trucks so that they can travel to Buñol in the next few hours. "Today we are busy," acknowledged Mechó, who specified that the trucks "are smaller this year."
"You have to squash them before you can throw them away, but there are some that are already very soft. They are stored a month before in the chamber so they get a little soft and don't hurt people" during their launch at the party, while " all the green ones are removed," he said.
Mechó has highlighted that they have been "doing the Tomatina" for 20 years and, although he has acknowledged that the first year "was difficult", with the passage of time and with the experience acquired "little by little" they have picked up "more rhythm", until they they are already "good at it".
It has also affected that they try to get all the loading work ready "always before 2 pm" on the eve of the party, "so that the trucks leave and are soon in Buñol."
