THANK God it’s Friday!

Revellers in Spain celebrated their country’s famous export, red wine from the Rioja region, by soaking each other with buckets of wine and toy spray guns filled with wine, not water, until their clothes were turned a shade of purple.

This bacchanal in northern Spain is part of an annual wine battle in the country’s Rioja producing-region.

La Batalla de Vino is held each June in the town of Hero on the feast of St Peter, an event organisers say draws thousands of people.

This year’s Battle of Wine saw more than 12,000 participants climb the Riscos de Bilibio before using water pistols, pesticide sprayers, bottles and even buckets to douse each other in 70,000 litres of wine while the local band played.

“The historical origin of this war is linked to a territorial dispute between the townsfolk of Hero and Miranda de Ebro over the ownership of the cliffs of Bilibio,” the Hero city hall website said.

“This was the spot on which a medieval castle stood upon a pre-Roman bulwark.

This was the place where the Reconquest of Spain from Islamic occupation began.”

Haro said at least 500 of those in attendance were foreign tourists who flocked from as far away as Australia to take part in the sticky war and have their pristine white clothes dyed a rich purple.

Tradition dictates that the Bacchanalian battle must continue until not a single drop of wine remains and anyone still sporting even the smallest accidental smidgen of white must be showered until their clothes match those around them.

Many people will then make their way to Pamplona for the Sanfermines running of the bulls fiesta, one of the most iconic events in the Spanish calendar.