Casteller: a typical Catalan tradition!

The origins of castellers de Catalane date back to the XVIIIᵉ century.

In the small town of Valls, some 40 km west of Barcelona, residents began building the human towers.

Today, it's a not-to-be-missed festival when you visit the region during the Castellers period.

I'll tell you everything there is to know on the subject.

Casteller: article summary

The different levels of a castel

The towers of that era were very similar to those of today, and the basic structure of the Castel, as they are known in Catalan, has hardly changed. The tower still consists of three parts.

The "Pinya" forms the base, a relatively large ring on which the distributes the weight of the upper load and stabilizes the structure. This ring also cushions the casteller's fall when the tower collapses.

Depending on the height of the tower, one or two additional floors are placed in a ring, called a manila, at the top of the tower.

The "trunk" consists of several levels with a certain number of people. Depending on the number and distribution of participants, there are up to 9 people in each tower circle.

Only children are allowed to climb to the top of the tower. They form the "pom de dalt", the dome of the tower, due to their low weight.

Casteller: the castel hierarchy

Each casteller has his or her own position and function within the castel, even if the pinya seems to form randomly to the untrained eye. Once the pinya is in place, the members of the shackles climb in a predetermined order and form the first rings. The strongest have to carry most of the weight, and the lightest climb the tower.

Finally, "l'anxenta" climbs to the top, staying only a few seconds to raise his arms and wave to the crowd. The tower is crowned and the goal is almost achieved. The castel must now be deconstructed without collapsing, a procedure as delicate and well-trained as construction.

There are special variants, in which the tower is built in reverse order.

. A level is set in place and then lifted from below, where the next lower level is formed.

During the construction process, a flute and a drum play the "Toc de Castells", a melody designed to indicate the different phases of the tower's construction.

Incredible performance at all times of the year

Traditionally, castellers build their towers at major festivals. Usually, three teams get together and build their human edifices. Nowadays, towers are also built by outside festivals. The Castellers season runs from June to November.

A recognized sport and a legacy for the modern world

Since 2010, the Human Tours of Catalonia have been part of the UNESCO world intangible heritage.

Castel building is a rather rural tradition. The founding members were mostly former citizens of Villafranca, not far from Barcelona.

Whereas in the 1970s, castles were built with 7 levels, today they have 9. This level of difficulty was only achieved by 10 of the casteller association's teams.

What are the origins of castle building?

Castels have their origins in a traditional folk dance from the town of Valls. The steps of the dance were accompanied by the flute, as it was is still played today during the tower's construction.

At the end of the dance, a small human tower was built. This probably encouraged the dancers' ambitions. Towers started to become a phenomenon in their own right, and rival groups began to build higher and higher towers. It is assumed that castellers were officially separated from traditional dance at the end of the 19ᵉ century.

Today, you can see them all over the streets of Barcelona during major demonstrations. On the beach of Barcelonetain the Gothic district or to El Bornyou don't There's no excuse not to be there for the performances.