Spanish fiesta

Last month, the Spanish town of Pulpi beat its own record for the world's biggest salad and will enter the Guinness World Records for the second time with a salad weighing 6,700kg. The previous record was 4,800kg.

The super-sized salad, put together by a team of 25 over a period of more than three hours, had seven kinds of lettuce and three of tomato, along with hundreds of kg of onions, cucumbers, pepper and olives — all tossed together in a specially built container 6 metres wide and 17 metres long.

The Spanish rarely need an excuse to have a fiesta and there are hundreds of celebrations throughout the year in the Iberian Peninsula. Most have religious origins.

Throw time

In late August, the festival of La Tomatina is held in Bunyol, near Valencia. Every year, thousands of revellers descend on the small town with the sole purpose of throwing tomatoes at each other.

The festival has its origins not in ancient traditions but in a food fight back in 1945, during which a few locals started throwing tomatoes at each other outside a restaurant. Since then, the tomato fight has turned into an annual tradition that is celebrated with much aplomb. Over 125,000kg of tomatoes are brought to the town every August in specially commissioned lorries. Then they are made available to the locals and the tourists who come from all over the world to join in the fun.

Water everywhere

Rockets are launched to signal the beginning and end of the event. To avoid injuries, rules prohibit the throwing of anything else but previously squashed tomatoes. Families living in houses lining the street where the festival is celebrated, gather on their balconies with tomatoes or buckets of water and unload them onto the crowd below. The event goes on for an hour, after which the town gets hosed down, shops reopen and normalcy returns — until the next year.

In Lomo Magullo, on the Gran Canaria island, the people do not throw tomatoes at each other but take part in a water fight that attracts more than 12,000 particpants. This tradition, called La Traida de Aqua or "fetching the water", grew from the need to supply water to the fertile region in summer.

Each year, this event is top on the list of summer revelries for locals and tourists.

Bull runs

In Vilafranca de Penedes, near Barcelona, a totally different tradition of unknown origin is celebrated each summer. There, human towers are erected. Local acrobats form towers, or moixigangas, often up to six- or seven-storeys high. Each storey is several-men wide and the structure tapers towards the top. Several teams practise all year for the event.

The towers rise "layer after layer", with people climbing over their co-participants to reach the next level. The aim is to build the highest tower and add as many storeys as possible before the structure collapses.

Probably the most famous annual festival is that of running with bulls in Pamplona. Bull runs are held all over Spain, but Pamplona has received worldwide fame mainly due to Ernest Hemingway's account of the challenging run. Early in the morning, when people are still fresh, the bulls are released in an 800m-long stretch of alleyway leading to the bullring.

Depending on the foolhardiness, or so-called courage of the participants, it is possible to run in front of the bulls all the way or join in or get out at designated spots.

Difficulty levels

There are alternative runs, some more difficult than others and even one so exclusive that you can join only if you have received a special invitation from the town hall.

As the bulls are young and faster than most men, accidents do occur and desperate leaps over the protective sideboards are common. But running with the bulls is seen as manly bravado, so there is always a group of young Spanish men ready to show off in front of the crowds.

Whatever the reasons for a fiesta, almost every day there is an event happening in some part of Spain. And these galas draw crowds and end in celebrations with fireworks, song and dance. The Spanish capacity for enjoying a fiesta is huge and draws visitors to the country in such large numbers that the tourism continues to rise.

In Ernest Hemingway's words, a festival in Spain can turn into "a dangerous afternoon", but it will always be a "fiesta!"

Baby woes

Whether all participants enjoy the El Colacho festival is doubtful. In the village of Castrillo de Murcia, in the Castile region of Spain, babies are used as hurdles every year. A number of babies are placed on several mattresses that are laid out at a convenient distance from one another for the contestants to jump over.

It is an ancient belief that leaping across the newborns will cure them of hernia-related illnesses. Considering that several of the contestants are dressed in scary costumes, to represent the Devil, and carry whips and sticks, the babies are most likely not convinced of its benefits.

Can't miss … Popular festivals

Go there...Valencia

From the UAE
Barcelona is one of the closest airports to Valencia.

From Dubai: Swiss International Airlines flies daily via Zurich. Fare from Dh4,070
KLM flies daily via Amsterdam. Fare from Dh4,040
Royal Jordanian flies two times a week via Amman.
Fare from Dh3,200
— Information courtesy: The Holiday Lounge by Dnata.
Ph: 04 3166160

— Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey is a UAE-based freelance writer