112 incident
Four people treated for pepper spray injuries at La Tomatina festival in Buñol, Valencia
Many attendees said they had felt a stinging sensation just from passing along that stretch of the square
Paula Medrano/M. Rodríguez
Four people have received medical treatment after being sprayed with pepper spray at the Tomatina festival in Buñol (Valencia).
Eyewitnesses initially reported that an ambulance ... had quickly attended to a man suffering from respiratory problems. "A young woman came running, very distressed, asking us to call 112 because she'd been sprayed," Ana, another witness, said.
According to municipal sources, the number of people who received medical assistance for the same complaints this year is four. At last year's Tomatina, three reported pepper spray injuries.
The festival, which attracts around 20,000 people to a town of 9,000, went ahead more or less as normal despite the substance in the air along part of the route.
Several people said they had also felt a stinging sensation in their noses. Similarly, the staff working at La Tomatina had to start wearing protective masks so that they could continue carrying out their duties.
Pepper spray causes irritation to the respiratory tract and the eyes.
As is often the case when a situation like this arises, there was a moment of chaos, during which those attending the event voiced their outrage. Someone even suggested that pepper spray had been fired from one of the lorries to prevent people from boarding them.
Buñol town hall categorically denied this, as the first vehicle, the one near which the substance was first detected in the air, was the municipal lorry.
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