5 Best Food Fight Festivals in Spain

Festivals in Spain – Many people have heard of the world famous La Tomatina festivals in Spain where you throw tomatoes on each other, but few know that it’s far from the only food battle festival in the country.

Spain is simply the king of food wars, with celebrations throughout the year using everything from grapes to flour and even eggs in their food battles.

Here are five awesome food fighting festivals when visiting Spain …

5 Best Food Fight Festivals in Spain

Meringue War, Vilanova i La Geltrú

La Merengada, also known as the Candy Fight, is a celebration that simply has to be every kid’s dream (as well as those with a sweet tooth like me).

While other countries and cities celebrate Fat Thursday by eating as much cake and sweets as they can before the fasting period begins, the folks in this little town head to the streets to throw their meringue pies on each other instead!

When the Meringue pies run out, the fun doesn’t end, but continues in candy throwing instead!

One piece of advice for anyone who is planning to hire a car in Spain during any of these festivals (especially sticky ones like this one): park it away from where all the action is so you won’t have to pay for a full cleaning service before handing it back!

When: February 27th 2014

Battle of the Wine, Haro

The Battle of the Wine festival simply sounds too good to be true: participants throw thousands of liters of red wine on each other using whatever containers they have on hand, from buckets to water pistols.

There is only one goal: to soak everyone you pass with wine!

Everyone dresses in white from head to toe with a traditional red handkerchief around your neck, and the rule is simple: there is no such thing as a “spectator” in this festival – anyone can (and will) be a target!

As you can expect there will soon be a purple ocean of people drenched in wine, all heading down from the hill where it begins to the main square of Haro for a procession around the square.

When: June 29th

La Tomatina, Buñol

La Tomatina, Buñol

The most famous food battle in the world, La Tomatina in Buñol, is the mother of all food fighting festivals.

The tomato throwing festival has become so popular that it has inspired other cities across the world to follow in its path, such as Reno in the US.

Every year during the festival the whole town is buried in a red mush of over-ripened tomatoes and people are literally bathing in it.

Approximately 150,000 tomatoes (over 90,000 pounds!) sourced from the four corners of the country are “released” from a fleet of trucks by official instigators and the battle is on!

When: August 28th 2013 (always on the last Wednesday of August)

Flour Fight, Ibi

Yes, there is even a food fight for throwing eggs and flour!

Each year in the town of Ibi in eastern Spain a festival called Els Enfarinats is held, staging a massive battle using eggs, flour and firecrackers..!

A group of married men called Els Enfarinats takes control of the village for one day, pronouncing a number of silly and ridiculous laws, fining anyone who infringes them.

The other group, La Oposicio, tries to restore order.

By the end of the day the money collected from the fines is donated to charity.

Checkout the slideshow with some amazing photos from the festival earlier this year.

When: 28th December

La Raima Grape Throwing Festival, Pobla del Duc

Dating back to the 1930’s, this annual festival signals the end of the grape harvest by having a huge grape throwing battle!

Up to 90 tons of locally grown Garnacha Tontorera grapes are dumped on the town square in front of hundreds of waiting participants for the huge grape throwing fight.

Expect to look like one happy purple raising once it’s all over!

When: end of August

Which one would you add to your bucket list?

Introducing Salamanca Spain

Salamanca is a great place to visit in Spain – for those who are learning or want to learn Spanish, Spain is the natural choice, whether just for a visit or to live, but instead of opting for the typical cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, why not go to a city like Salamanca?

There you can see some beautiful, ancient architecture, visit museums and get a taste for the Spanish way of life.

Situated north-west of Madrid, you can reach it from the capital in just two and a half hours.

It has the most famous university in the country and a well-preserved Old City, which was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1988.

Museums And Galleries

There are a number of museums in Salamanca that you cannot miss on your visit, and the Bullfighting Museum is one of them.

There you get a chance to gain an insight into the history of this popular Spanish sport, which has caused so much controversy in recent years.

The Cathedral Museum is based in one of the most famous buildings of the city, and aside from its incredible architecture, the museum is home to a number of Spanish paintings and the famous 15th-century sculpture Anaya’s Tomb, by Francisco of Salamanca.

If you are interested in modernist literature, you should visit the museum based in Miguel de Unamuno’s home.

There you will be able to absorb the culture that surrounded his works as well as personal items belonging to the novelist, essayist and poet.

Introducing Salamanca Spain University

The university is one of the main attractions of Salamanca.

Founded in 1218, it is the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest in Europe with extensive grounds and incredible architecture, a vast library and museums.

Whether you are visiting Spain for language courses abroad or simply to soak up some sun and culture, head to Salamanca for a unique experience.

Salamanca Spain Fine Dining

Eating out in Salamanca can be an incredible experience if you know where to go.

La Cocina de Toño is an award-winning restaurant offering impeccable Michelin-standard food in an intimate setting with excellent service and creative menu.

Although it’s located just outside the center of Salamanca, it is well worth the journey!

When To Visit

The best time to visit Salamanca is in September, as the weather is not scorching hot but not yet cold, the student atmosphere will be rife again and most importantly it is the season for Salamanca’s main festival:

Virgen de la Vega, which includes street parties, events, markets and concerts!

If you’ve been to Salamanca, what are your best tips?

Great Food To Try In Menorca

Menorca cuisine is a blend of classic Spanish dishes and foods absorbed through two thousand years of international influence.

So there’s certainly no shortage of great food to try in Menorca, and while real home cooking has reduced in popularity in response to busier lifestyles, in recent years efforts have been made to reintroduce more traditional Menorcan dishes to the island’s restaurants.

And since traditional Menorcan food is healthy and full of rich flavors, visitors – even those on all inclusive holidays to Menorca – should make dining out and trying the local food a holiday priority.

Food Fit For A King

As you would expect, seafood and shellfish are favorites, with mullet, sole, sea bass, squid, mussels, barnacles and prawns all featuring on menus.

But Menorca’s most famous dish is caldereta de llagosta – a lobster stew so highly regarded that it’s rumored Spain’s King Juan Carlos visits the island just to eat this meal.

Sweets For Breakfast

And so on to pastries and desserts: particularly popular across Spain are ensaimadas, a sweet spiral pastry topped with icing sugar and often taken with hot chocolate for breakfast.

Cakes flavored with almonds or toasted nougat and carquinyols – almond macaroons – are available wherever you go, and if it’s cold and refreshing you crave to complete a Menorcan meal, then La Menorquina is a locally produced and particularly creamy ice cream.

Menorca’s Favorites

One of Menorca’s national dishes is the Baked cuttlefish – Sépia al Forn, a favorite among locals.

The agricultural produce is just as delicious, and the traditional Menorcan farms which supply most of the island’s restaurants breed free range calves, lambs, pigs, chickens, turkeys and capons.

The resulting meat dishes pack a lot of fantastic flavor, with sobrasada – pork sausage flavored with peppers – and cuixa – black sausages with fennel – the best known among them.

Olives and peppers feature on every traditional Menorcan menu.

Tumbet is a popular baked vegetable meal, made from local potatoes, peppers and aubergines and available as a vegetarian dish or with fish or meat.

In fact aubergines are a Menorca specialty, cooked in a variety of ways.

Other great Spanish food to try are and clams – escopinyes – either baked in breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley or served raw with lemon, and Paella – probably Spain’s most famous culinary export, and a dish the locals take particular pride in perfecting.

The Invention On Mayonnaise

It will surprise many first-time Menorca holiday-makers that mayonnaise is believed to have been invented here in the 18th century in Maó and locals will tell you it’s best when made with the island’s own eggs and olive oil.

The cheeses too are particularly flavorsome, particularly Mahon, which comes in different strengths depending on the length of time spent curing.

What are some of your favorite Spanish dishes?

Andalusia Spain to Watch the Hunter and Archer Battle

Un Chien Andalou

“But now the stars, concealing landscapes, reveal the perfect schema of their courses. ” Federico García Lorca

The night sky in the autonomous community of Andalusia is among the most vivid in Europe; with the milky way stretching languidly, high above and between the brighter constellations.

Thanks to its relative isolation and subsequent lack of light pollution it is common to see shooting stars arc across this mountainous region; thrilling to watch the Hunter and the Archer battle for supremacy within the all consuming darkness.

In his Ode to Salvador Dali, the co-creator of Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog), Lorca gives us the briefest glimpse into the landscapes and fiercely independent cultures that inspired both his poetry, Dali’s painting and the passionate relationship that the two shared.

At times, imbued with a surrealism worthy of the modern master; where the sliver, white, red and yellow soils daub the mountains of Almeria: and at others, a sense of the solitude and isolation found within the Tabernas Desert and Lorca’s body of work are almost palpable.

Andalusia Spain Home of the Ancients

Spanning the southern coast of Spain from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and sharing a border with Portugal with a southern extreme that reaches across the straights of Gibraltar to North Africa, it is perhaps unsurprising that Andalusia has a rich and vibrant history that gives its major cities a certain modern mythology.

Seville, Granada and Cordoba; Malaga, Jerez and Cadiz are all documented within ancient manuscripts and scrolls, spoken within the hushed walls of monasteries and mosques; in Greek, Latin, Arabic and the countless dialects that populate the region.

Ancient harbors that once saw invading Greeks, Phonecians, Romans, Carthaginians and countless other civilizations have now given way to fishing, and then tourism, with each stretch of coast providing something for travelers of any predilection.

The brash, high-rise-party-life of Malaga and Marbella give way to the much quieter resorts north of Almeria; a favorite among Spanish tourists and locals.

Here, seafood straight off the boat is still found at reasonable prices in many of the seafront restaurants.

Independent and Diverse

“….the whole of the southern lands is too vast and varied to be embraced as a single unit. In reality there are not two, but three Andalusias: the Sierra Morena, the Valley [of the Guadalquivir] and the [Cordillera] Penibética “

Antonio Domínguez Ortiz

The region is split into eight provinces, each as culturally distinct as the next, however, the essence of Andulausia is dictated as much by its geography as it is by its people.

Climb some 1332 meters above sea level to the north and you will reach the peak of the legendary Sierra Morena mountain range; a mass of granite and quartzite that tells tales of bandits and the child raised by wolves.

Further south lies the Guadalquivir valley with Spain’s longest river snaking its way through the marshy lowlands to the Mediterranean.

Further south still and the Cordillera dominates, with the imposing peak of Mulhaven stretching 3478 meters above the Sierra Nevada.

From the frozen peaks through the burning desert to the breezy coast, the flora and fauna of Andalusia is also surprisingly diverse despite its seemingly barren exterior.

For travelers with a penchant for the natural world, and with a soft enough step, Andalusia is home to the Iberian Lynx and Wildcat, the Iberian Wolf alongside countless wild foxes and dogs.

Eagles soar high above the peaks and wild boar are in abundance, sharing the peaks and valleys with Ibex, otters, badgers and mongoose that skitter through the cacti, almond and olive trees, citrus plantations and wild thyme.

Fabulous Fiestas and Fantastic Food

During summer, when temperatures across the length and breadth of Andalusia often rise above 40 degrees, the pueblos and provinces explode with color and light, music, flamenco and food washed down with delicious Andalusian wine.

In fact, with more than three thousand fiestas celebrated throughout the year, travelers looking for an authentic slice of Andalusian culture can simply hop from one party to the next.

Among the largest fiestas to be held during the summer are the Granada Music Festival, The Moors & Christians Festival, the Cherry Festival and the Jerez Horse Festival although perhaps the most important fiestas for locals are the Grape Harvest and the Bull Fighting Season.

Outside of Spain, the barbarous art of bullfighting has fallen out of favor in recent times, however, a resurgence in the popularity of the beef that remains means at least nothing is left to waste.

Formerly, the meat was handed out during fiesta, providing poor villagers with a rare opportunity to eat beef, however, with the advent of intensive farming it was often discarded or cremated.

Now, thanks to shifting ecological perspectives and opinion leaning towards traceable meat, this beef has been making its way into gourmet restaurants as an eco-friendly alternative to farmed beef.

Bullfighting, like many “Spanish” customs, actually began in Andalusia and has remained an important and controversial part of life in the community.

Much like the wild boar hunt, one reason why the species remains so abundant in the region, has continually provided excellent food for local consumption.

The deep red, spicy chorizo is another staple alongside giant paella made to feed entire villages at a time whilst the Jamón de Huelva is protected as a Denominación de Origen, meaning a unique taste and supreme quality is always assured.

Whether you are looking for a beach holiday overflowing with sun-drenched night-owls or the tranquility of the stars in rural Andalusia, it is a rewarding choice for those who can spend more than a short break.

Perhaps if you are short of cash then this company, that provides short term loans, may help you strike out into the rolling hills and gorgeous valleys.

Indulge in local custom and taste everything the community has to offer as you travel through its disparate provinces and enjoy the year round sunshine.

Finally, don’t forget the wealth of historic sites on offer in and around the many towns and villages as you explore the home of some of the earliest Europeans.

(photo credit: 1 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 1 –  2 – 3)