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The Human Towers of Tarragona

A 7-level tower (the first level is in the crowd)

Every year, towards the end of September, the Spanish town of Tarragona hosts the building of impressive human towers by acrobats known as “castellers”. A team of castellers is called a "colla casteller" and can consist of up to 100 people.

To construct a fine human tower, a great deal of technique is required, and a series of factors has to be taken into consideration. First, the base of the tower, known as the pinya, is formed with great discipline, requiring all the members of the group to take their allotted positions. Then the layers of the castell begin to rise, with the strongest members of the group making up the lower levels, while the lightest, more agile members climb on their shoulders. The last person to climb on top of the human tower is the anxaneta, a young boy or girl, who has to raise their hand, holding four fingers erect, said to symbolize the Catalonia flag. This is the highlight of the event, as only then is the castell considered crowned.

Of course the castell, like any other construction of this size must have firm foundations and that is where the pinya come in. These are the people, mostly men, who create the base of the castell and give it the strength to support the enormous weight of those who will form the other levels.

In order to form a stronger pinya, the members tie
themselves tightly together to form a solid human base.

Once bound together, they link bodies tightly for
even more solidarity.

The pinya have to be strong – not only do they support the weight of the castell, if it falls they are the human safety net upon which all the higher castellers will land. (as you will see in the video, below). This is not an activity for the faint hearted by any means.

The pinya are also those who decide the success of a tower, giving directions. They form the ground level first and give the signal for the castell’s progress to continue. As this is done a band will play, even though most watching the event are hushed in to silence, willing the castellers to succeed.

The climbers begin their ascent.

Speed is now of the essence. In order not to put inhuman strain on the pinya the succeeding levels are quickly assembled.

A castell is considered a success when stages of its assembling and disassembling, can be done in complete succession. The assembly is complete once all castellers have climbed into their designated places, and the enxaneta climbs into place at the top and raises one hand with four fingers erect, in a gesture said to symbolize the stripes of the Catalan flag.

Four or five levels are the norm but it is said that the record is nine layers. Imagine the stress and weight against those at the bottom of the castell.

But the building of the tower is only half of the event. The task is not completed until the tower is also disassembled. After the enxaneta has "raised the flag", he/she then climbs down the other side of the castell, after which the remaining levels of castellers descend in highest-to-lowest order until all have reached safety.

And that is usually where the greatest danger comes. The people are tired with now trembling muscles, and the hurry of the topmost people to come down from the tower causes a lot of imbalance.

It would seem that the fatality rate among castellers is relatively high compared to, say, tennis. In thirty years there have been two deaths which, while tragedies, is a testament to the care and effort the teams put in to ensure everyone’s mutual safety.

Celebrating victory

But safely back on the ground, everyone can celebrate the very heroic deed they have just accomplished.

For the very best video of the celebration of the human towers of Tarragona, click The best video ever of the castellers.

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The best video ever of the castellers.