{"id":1108,"date":"2013-02-05T13:59:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T12:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2021-05-12T16:04:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T14:04:14","slug":"castellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Castellers, a Catalan tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What are castellers?<\/strong> A <strong><em>castell<\/em><\/strong>, in the Catalan tradition, is a <strong>human tower<\/strong> or multilayered &#8220;construction&#8221; that can have different characteristics depending on their height and build. References to their presence in popular celebrations, especially in the area of Camp de Tarragona, first started to appear during the eighteenth century.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the following centuries, the <strong>castells&nbsp;<\/strong>started&nbsp;spreading out to Pened\u00e8s and throughout Catalonia in general. Today at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\"><strong>ShBarcelona<\/strong><\/a>, we&#8217;ll be talking about one of Catalonia&#8217;s claims to fame, the <strong>castellers<\/strong>!<\/p>\n<div id=\"metaslider-id-104522\" style=\"max-width: 850px; margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"ml-slider-3-20-3 metaslider metaslider-responsive metaslider-104522 ml-slider\">\n    <div id=\"metaslider_container_104522\">\n        <ul id='metaslider_104522' class='rslides'>\n            <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_self\"><img width=\"850\" height=\"182\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/en-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-104522 slide-104523\" alt=\"rental apartments in Barcelona\" rel=\"\" title=\"Banner medio home inquilinos\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n        \n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/#Where_and_when_to_see_castells_in_Barcelona\" title=\"Where and when to see castells in Barcelona\">Where and when to see castells in Barcelona<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/#How_the_castell_is_built\" title=\"How the castell is built\">How the castell is built<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/#Castellers_music_and_costumes\" title=\"Castellers&#8217; music and costumes\">Castellers&#8217; music and costumes<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/#Want_to_build_your_own_casteller\" title=\"Want to build your own casteller?\">Want to build your own casteller?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/#Castellers_and_culture\" title=\"Castellers and culture\">Castellers and culture<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_and_when_to_see_castells_in_Barcelona\"><\/span>Where and when to see castells in Barcelona<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are plenty of&nbsp;<strong>castells<\/strong> happening all year long in Barcelona, which can be seen in different areas of the city. All the main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/national-holiday-dia-hispanidad\/\"><strong>holidays<\/strong><\/a> have&nbsp;<strong>castells<\/strong> displays, including Sant Joan, La Merc\u00e9 and La Diada.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_106011\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106011\" class=\"size-full wp-image-106011\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/castellers-1682772_640.jpg\" alt=\"castellers\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-106011\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you want a complete list of dates, times and places where you can see a&nbsp;<strong>castellers<\/strong> demonstration, visit&nbsp;<strong>Castellers de Barcelona<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.castellersdebarcelona.cat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">official website<\/a>.<\/strong> Both men and women can participate in the construction of a <strong>castell<\/strong> and be <strong>castellers<\/strong><em>.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_the_castell_is_built\"><\/span>How the castell is built<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Depending on your constitution and age you can be on the <em>pinya<\/em> &#8211;&nbsp;a part of the base of the <strong>castell<\/strong> that usually uses the strongest people &#8211; or in the <em>tronc<\/em>, the visible part of a <strong>castell<em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The<em> pom de dalt<\/em>, the upper part of the construction, is formed by two <em>dosos<\/em>&nbsp;and <em>acotxadors<strong>,<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;where the <em>enxaneta<\/em>&nbsp;(a child who climbs on the top of the <em>castell<\/em>) has to stand up and raise the arm in order for the <strong>castell<\/strong> to be complete.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Other important parts of a<em> <strong>castell<\/strong><\/em> are the <em>folre<strong>,<\/strong><\/em> the <em>manilles,<\/em> and the <em>puntals,<\/em>&nbsp;since every of those parts help to support and strengthen the higher levels of this human construction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"fasc-button fasc-size-large fasc-type-flat fasc-rounded-medium ico-fa fasc-ico-before fa-chevron-circle-right broken_link\" style=\"background-color: #850909; color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/long-term-rental\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spend a couple of months in Barcelona<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Each <strong>castell<\/strong> has a name that corresponds to the number of pillars of each <em>tronc\u2019s<\/em> level and to the number of levels including the <em>pom de dalt<\/em> (3 de 7, 4 de 7, 2 de 6, etc.). <strong><em>Castells<\/em><\/strong> can also have a special name if they have a certain combination of elements (<em>trileta<\/em>-2 de 8 with folre, <em>tripleta m\u00e1gica<\/em>-3 of 9 with folre-etc.).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong><em>castellers<\/em><\/strong> are grouped in <em>colles<\/em> among which there is a healthy rivalry. There aren\u2019t competitions between <strong><em>colles<\/em><\/strong> but they get points if they get to load and unload some type of <strong><em>castells<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Castellers_music_and_costumes\"><\/span>Castellers&#8217; music and costumes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The music that accompanies the construction of a <em><strong>castell<\/strong> <\/em>is very particular and comes from a wind instrument called&nbsp;<em>graller<strong>,<\/strong><\/em> which marks the evolution of each human tower. In 2006, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/world-heritage-barcelona\/\">UNESCO<\/a><\/strong> recognized the <strong><em>castells<\/em><\/strong> as <strong>Intangible Heritage of Humanity.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_106012\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106012\" class=\"size-full wp-image-106012\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/castellers-6159792_640.jpg\" alt=\"human tower\" width=\"640\" height=\"424\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-106012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In what regards the&nbsp;<em><strong>castellers&#8217;<\/strong> <\/em>costumes, each <em>colla&#8217;s<\/em> member has to wear pants and shirts of the same color as the other members of the team, and they also have to wear&nbsp;a black <em>faja<\/em> or strap, which serves as a support point in their body for the rest of <strong><em>castellers<\/em><\/strong> to grab onto when they are climbing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After several unfortunate accidents and falls, children are required to wear helmets in training and exhibitions.&nbsp;Erecting a&nbsp;<strong>castell<\/strong> is a great&nbsp;team building exercise.&nbsp;<em><strong>Castells<\/strong><\/em> can only be formed if every one of the&nbsp;<strong>castellers<\/strong> does their part and commits to helping the other members of the group.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/sardana-a-traditional-catalan-dance\/\">Sardana, a traditional Catalan dance<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Want_to_build_your_own_casteller\"><\/span>Want to build your own casteller?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are companies in Barcelona that offer this service, such as<b> Team Towers<\/b>, who have been working with&nbsp;<strong>castells<\/strong>&nbsp;for over 20 years, helping other companies and businesses to create a greater sense of union and collaboration between their teams.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_106013\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106013\" class=\"size-full wp-image-106013\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/castellers-921018_640.jpg\" alt=\"hands together\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-106013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another company that offers this type of service is&nbsp;<strong>City Tours Barcelona<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong> Their castell-building sessions last from 2 to 3 hours, starting with an introduction by a professional&nbsp;<strong>casteller<\/strong><em>,&nbsp;<\/em>followed by the formation of a small&nbsp;<strong>castell&nbsp;<\/strong>by the entire group.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another option is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcn-adventure.com\/activity\/team-towers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>BCN Adventure<\/strong><\/a>, which offers a&nbsp;castell<em>&#8211;<\/em>building experience which focuses on teamwork, shared responsibilities, good leadership, rational planning, and discipline. All the participants will have the opportunity to wear a traditional costume.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"fasc-button fasc-size-large fasc-type-flat fasc-rounded-medium ico-fa fasc-ico-before fa-chevron-circle-right broken_link\" style=\"background-color: #850909; color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/long-term-rental\" rel=\"nofollow\">Rent per month in Barcelona<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Castellers_and_culture\"><\/span>Castellers and culture<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The&nbsp;<strong>castells<\/strong> &#8211; or people tower &#8211; are such a big part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/the-catalan-donkey\/\"><strong>local culture<\/strong><\/a>, that there is even a magazine dedicated to it: the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/revistacastells.cat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>Revista Castells<\/strong><\/a>. There, you can find all the latest news about the world of&nbsp;<em><strong>castells<\/strong><\/em> and learn about events.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you want to become part of a <strong>colla<\/strong> in Barcelona, you can also find information on each their official website.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The most important <strong>castellers&nbsp;<\/strong>colles&nbsp;are&nbsp;the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/castellersdebarcelona.cat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Castellers de Barcelona<\/a><\/strong>, and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/borinots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Castellers de Sants<\/a><\/strong> but there are other colles around the city that you can also join, which are recognized worldwide, such as the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jovedebarcelona.cat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Colla Jove<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.collavella.cat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Colla Vella dels Xiquets Valls<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Castellers de Barcelona: 4d9f - Concurs de Castells de Tarragona - 5\/10\/2014.\" width=\"810\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0rHmctqR73I?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Have you visited the human towers in Barcelona?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Share your opinion and tips with our readers!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"1108\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 107.5px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">3.7<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">4<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            votes        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are castellers? A castell, in the Catalan tradition, is a human tower or multilayered &#8220;construction&#8221; that can have different characteristics depending on their height and build. References to their presence in popular celebrations, especially in the area of Camp de Tarragona, first started to appear during the eighteenth century. In the following centuries, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4348],"tags":[6956,198,94],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109221,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions\/109221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}