I took a day trip to Tarragona to watch the Sant Joan (St. John) festival. During this festival, I had the opportunity to observe various interesting cultural activities. A Group of folkloric danced with firecrackers, locals made a big fire camp in the middle of the city, and music shows and many other interesting activities were integrated into this festival. But there was one cultural practice I watched that impressed me differently: the castells.
The word “castells” is translated in English as castles. In the context of Catalonia however, castells refer to human towers. The practice of building human towers goes back to the 18th century, and the city of Tarragona is the major center for this practice. The castells are built during festivals, in the main square of the cities. The height of these human towers is also quite impressive. Usually, the height of these towers varies between 6-10 floors. The castells might be considered as a cultural activity, but also a form of a team sport because requires a lot of training to build such structures.
Watching how tens of people get together and organize themselves to build these structures made me think about multiple issues. I think I have never seen any collective physical activity that is more inclusive. People of all ages and sizes get together to build human towers. Children as young as 4-5 years old actively participate in this event. In fact, they climb all the way top of the tower. Older people often are at bottom of the tower and stabilizing the core of the tower. People in the middle of the tower are usually the strongest ones, physically speaking.
It seems to me that building castells resemble an intergenerational trust-building exercise. Young people do not carry much weight, but they are expected to act courageously in climbing the tower’s upper levels. Older they get, they are expected to have more weight and responsibilities, especially in terms of providing a stable route for the young ones. Castells only works when people from different age groups trust each other.
One day, I will need to return to Catalonia just for watching the castells!
