Inside the Naval Battle of Vallecas.

The Naval Battle of Vallecas was one of those events I had wanted to photograph for quite some time. I had seen pictures from previous years, but I had never been there with a camera, so I did not really know what to expect.

As soon as I arrived, I realised it was going to be difficult to stay dry. People were carrying buckets, water guns, bottles and anything else they could use to soak whoever happened to walk past. It did not matter whether you were a local, a visitor or a photographer: no one was safe.

At first, I tried to move carefully and protect my camera, but after a few minutes I accepted that there was no point trying to control the situation. All I could do was look for scenes, react quickly and pay attention to everything happening around me.

What I enjoyed most was the atmosphere. There were families, groups of friends, costumes, music and people watching from their balconies, although some of them were also taking advantage of the height to throw water from above. Everything was happening at once, and it was difficult to know where to look.

From a photographic point of view, it was a really fun exercise. I was carrying my Fujifilm X100VI, which has a 35mm-equivalent lens, but in such a crowded and unpredictable environment, I really missed the wider perspective of a 28mm lens. The scenes appeared and disappeared within seconds, people ran from one side of the street to the other and, whenever I thought I had found a relatively safe place, another bucket of water would arrive.

I ended up soaked, as expected, but with the feeling that I had spent a very different kind of afternoon and discovered one of those celebrations that says a lot about the personality of a neighbourhood.

These photographs are simply my way of sharing how I experienced my first Naval Battle of Vallecas: trying to keep my camera dry, looking for images in the middle of the chaos and enjoying everything that was happening around me.