Madalina B.

You can see somewhere in Catalunya human towers are almost everyday during fiestas, every weekend in the rest of the season. In Tarragona there where last Sunday, this Sunday and this Monday. On Monday I was thinking that I know by heart this “castells” and that they won’t tell me too much now.

But I was surprised and impressed by something new for me: in the end of the show they made castles of 4 levels which climbed up the stairs to the Cathedral and then climb down and walk like this, surrounded by people and glorious music, up to Plaça de la Font where the town-hall is. There, at the balcony the mayor and his stuff were waiting. The child who had stayed in the top went up to the mayor who took him/her in his arms. I made some movies. In one of the castles (there were 4 teams in total), the top most child was, I think, below 2 years old and she still had baby fat on her legs. She was very light and I’m not sure that she knows how to walk yet! She also had problems in climbing up to the tower, so the guy at the 3rd level pulled her up using his hands! Everybody laughed because of this clumsiness, especially because usually children climb up fast like monkeys. This girl was simply too young and small, but fearless!

To one of the teams happened almost a tragedy. Just 100 meters before the end, in front of the mayor and everybody, the top most girl couldn’t stand anymore and she lost her balance causing the falling of the tower. I was just 2 meters in front of them and recorded it. They started to cry, especially that girl, but also some men and women. All of them were visible dissapointed. I don’t remember seeing  before so much sorrow gathered in one place. The impression was like after seeing a car crash in front of you. I felt like crying also! But the mayor took also this child in his arms at the balcony and wiped her tears and everybody applauded encouraging. The castles fall down quite often, but that one was a very special ocasion.

I remember that in one year, in a small town in Catalunya, where the tourists don’t come, they had this castels event. In the end, they raised 4 castels of 5 or 6 levels and slowly rotated them 360 degrees. In the very end they dropped down a long Catalan flag each, on the length of the castles. But these are things which has to be seen and not only to be told!

These human towers (castells) are built only in Catalunya. The Wikipedia page reads: “This tradition originated in the southern part of Catalonia at the end of the XVIII century. More specifically in Valls, near the city of Tarragona. The tradition later spread to other regions of Catalonia and even Mallorca, and has become very popular. However, the best and most skilled castellers are still found near Tarragona.” From the same page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell ): A young child known as the enxaneta climbs to the top of the tower and  raises one hand (with four fingers erect, said to symbolize the stripes of the Catalan flag), climbs down the other side of the castell, and then everyone else comes down safely.

One thing is that this castells are borrowed from the valencians in fact, where they are called Muixeranga and have different purpose (not to be very tall, but to form a plastic figure, like a tree). Maybe the origins should be search in it. “There are several theories on the origin of muixeranga, especially in relation to its name. The first theory advocates that the word comes from the Arabic word mochain, meaning ” mask”. A second theory links it with ancient processions held on the streets to commemorate some special event.”

The number of people that build up the tower… Over 100. The base is very thick. Starting with the 3rd level, the castles can be 1,2,3,4 or even 5 people per level. The highest ever built castle was of 10 levels. One team of Tarragona made 3×9 which is considered to be a performance. A tower of 6 levels is considered to be easy and stress free.