'Bull's balls' reign supreme at Coín's tomato festival

Coín in the Guadalhorce valley turned red this week for its second Verbena Tomatera, an event that unites popular festivities and agricultural pride in the Huevo de Toro (bull's ball) tomato. Held on 14 and 15 August, coinciding with the fair, the event brought together hundreds of people in the Alameda and San Agustín park to enjoy good food, music and a product that is emblematic of the Guadalhorce market garden.

Organised by the Asociación de Productores de Tomate Huevo de Toro and Coín council, with the support of the Diputación de Málaga and Sabor a Málaga, the festival has grown in format and participation, consolidating itself as a benchmark event.

This year for the first time the festival extended its format to two days, which made it possible to enjoy the Huevo de Toro tomato from different perspectives: as a star ingredient in the bars of the Alameda, as an object of admiration in the horticultural competition and as the absolute star of an auction that broke all records. Among residents, visitors and producers, the event not only celebrated a product of unique quality, but also the work of the farmers and the community's ability to come together around it.

It all kicked off on Thursday evening, when the Alameda square was transformed into a large open-air hall. Under the festival lights, the tables were filled with fresh salads, bread with oil and improvised dishes where the Huevo de Toro showed off its fleshy pulp and sweet flavour. Live music by Omar González and sessions by DJ Tony Solís accompanied the evening.

The main event came on the morning of 15 August, when the location was moved to the San Agustín park for the 13th auction and fruit and vegetable competition. From early in the morning, producers placed their best tomatoes before a jury made up of chefs, food critics and representatives of the Sabor a Málaga brand and the gastronomy academy. Among all the lots, Daniel García Plaza's stood out, winning first prize and starring in the most eagerly awaited moment: the charity auction.

With the artist Kiki Morente as godfather of honour and the presence of the mayor of Coín, Francisco Santos; the vice-president of the Diputación de Málaga, Cristóbal Ortega; and the territorial delegate for Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández Tapia-Ruano, the bidding got off to a strong start. Amid applause, complicit gestures and the tension typical of a final, Francisco José Jiménez from Coín offered 18,000 euros for the box presented by Daniel García Plaza, thus reaching the highest figure in the history of the competition. The entire amount will be donated to local associations and groups, a gesture that provoked a standing ovation.

Second place went to Antonio Gámez and third place to Isabel Cortés, while the horticultural competition awarded prizes to other fruit and vegetables from local gardens. The day also included the Malaga agricultural biodiversity fair and the prize-giving ceremony for the livestock fair photographic competition, in a morning that made it clear that the festival and the competition are much more than just a culinary showcase.

The day marks the end of the annual campaign to promote the Huevo de Toro tomato, which this year has added a 'gastronomic trail' with around 50 restaurants incorporating the product into their menus, gatherings and promotional activities, as well as the tomato festival, which has been extended to two days. A series of events that reinforce the importance of this product, not only in the province, but also outside it, strengthening its position as one of the benchmarks of the Malaga market garden.