Village
Buñol is a municipality in the comarca of La Hoya de Buñol, in the interior of the province of Valencia, at 441 metres above sea level, with 9779 inhabitants (INE 2025). There is evidence of settlement since the Palaeolithic, although the urban centre emerged in the Muslim period around the castle, one of the best preserved in the Comunitat Valenciana. Buñol was incorporated into the Kingdom of Valencia in the mid-13th century, and the arrival of the railway in 1887 boosted a paper industry that came to have twelve factories. It also preserves the church of San Pedro, the hermitage of San Luis Beltrán and several inns (ventas) from the 17th century. It is world-famous for La Tomatina, a festival declared of international tourist interest in 2002; musical events and fallas are also held, as in other Valencian towns.
Monument
One of the best preserved castles in the Comunitat Valenciana, Gothic in origin and dating from the 13th century, standing in the old town of Buñol.
Nature
La Hoya de Buñol, the natural depression that gives the comarca its name, forms the central unit of a territory divided into three zones: the Chiva-Cheste fields to the north, the hoya proper in the centre, and the gorges of the Júcar river to the south. The surrounding relief is formed by sierras such as the sierra de Martés - with the Alto de Santa María, at 1,173 metres, its highest point -, the sierra de Malacara, the sierra de los Bosques and the sierra de Chiva, covered with Aleppo pine forests, gorse and rosemary scrubland, and some holm oaks. The area's water resources rely on the Forata reservoir, in the municipal area of Yátova, which dams the waters of the Magro river.
Curiosity
The most famous tomato fight in the world, held in Buñol since the mid-20th century and declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest.
Activity
La Tomatina is a massive tomato fight held in Buñol (Valencia) on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of patronal festivities, and which has been declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional (Spain's highest tourist-interest designation for a festival). The day begins around ten in the morning with the palo jabón, a greased pole that must be climbed to bring down a ham; once this is achieved, a traca (string of firecrackers) sounds, giving way around midday to the battle. Six lorries distribute nearly 150 tonnes of tomatoes, grown specially in Chilches (Castellón), among the participants, limited to 22,000 since 2013, who throw them at each other for an hour along Calle San Luis, Calle Cid and the Plaza del Pueblo, until a second traca announces the end and the clean-up begins.
Monument
The church of San Pedro Apóstol stands in the plaza del Pueblo of Buñol, in the Hoya de Buñol region. Built over the course of the second third of the 18th century, during the reign of Charles III, it is representative of the Valencian neoclassicism of the Academia de San Carlos and is listed as a Bien de Relevancia Local (heritage protection category at the local level). Of the original façade only the doorway survives, flanked by Corinthian columns supporting a pediment of Roman inspiration. The interior, with three naves covered by a barrel vault, features Corinthian columns with rococo decoration. Above the crossing rises a hemispherical dome with pendentives frescoed with scenes from the life of San Pedro, the work of Luis de Planes, and the exterior is clad in blue glazed tile.
Monument
The hermitage of San Luis Beltrán stands in the San Luis park of Buñol, in the Hoya de Buñol region, and is listed as a Bien de Relevancia Local (heritage protection category at the local level). It is a small neo-Gothic temple with a single nave covered by a ribbed vault, with a rendered and whitewashed façade topped by a triangle between two pinnacles, and a wooden doorway with a pointed arch decorated with plasterwork; its design is attributed to the Valencian painter José Brel. On the altar is venerated the image of the saint, the work of José Bodria, with the black-and-white habit, the Bible and the chalice that recall the poisoning attempt he suffered as a missionary in Colombia. The hermitage is dedicated to this Valencian Dominican, canonized in 1671, who visited Buñol in 1541 and 1555 and became its patron saint.
Activity
Patron saint festivities of Buñol (Valencia), in addition to the world-famous Tomatina. They are held in the last week of August, in honor of San Luis Bertrán, San Venancio and the Virgen de los Desamparados, patron saints of the town. During those days numerous events take place: a popular race, processions, street parades, open-air dances and gastronomic contests for paellas, mojete and gazpachos.
Historical milestone
The comarca was mainly Morisco and the expulsion decree left it almost deserted. Buñol went from some seven hundred and sixty households to two hundred and seventy-three by around 1646, and the lords had to grant charters of settlement to bring in Christian colonists.
Historical milestone
The arrival of the railway in 1887 gave impetus to the paper mills driven by the water of the river, which came to number twelve at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1917 the cement factory was installed that ended up being the municipality's main employer during the twentieth century.
Historical milestone
The municipality's two musical societies go back to 1883 and divide the residents into two rival followings. Both figure among the most decorated civil bands in Europe and they sustain music schools that train several hundred pupils.
Historical milestone
A contest in which the two local bands confront each other performing works of great difficulty before the municipality's public. The tradition starts from 1892 and has been kept up with interruptions to this day, with the town divided between supporters of one society and the other.
Food and drink
Rice cooked in an earthenware dish with chickpeas, sliced potato, blood sausage, belly pork and a head of garlic in the centre, moistened with the broth of the previous day's stew. It is the Sunday and festival dish in the towns of the interior of the comarca.