Catalan Castell Human Towers in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

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Barcelona's Merce Festival is 4 days of street entertainment, including the Catalan Castell competition. This acrobatic test of human strength and balance builds human towers nine levels high! Catalonia is a proud district of Spain with a special indigenous culture unique in the world, and the towers are one fine example of their sense of fun and competition, and an expression of their independence. Hundreds of people are involved, and thousands standing in the plaza enjoy the spectacle. The tallest and most complex tower wins. Watch out below when they come crashing down.

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

Thanks from Spain 🇪🇦🖤

[@jordicastano4960]

no spanish flag belongs to the human towers

[@nosoyrando2336]

May i point a few things?
- Human Castles are not an annual thing, but rather a weekly event. We train 2-3 times a week and almost every weekend of the year we have one of these events, in different cities/villages in Catalonia. We have holidays also, between the end of the season and the beginning of the next one, and usually in the summer as well.
- This activity is not a competition between the different teams, but a competition against your own team. Every group tries to improve their own limits and usually the different teams help each other during the events. Of course, there are some rivalries (specially between groups from the same city/town), but in general, we all try to help each other and we are very happy when an other team is successful.
- The only time when human castles are built in a purely competitive manner is in the Concurs of Tarragona (Tarragona's Tournament), an event that takes place every 2 years. Only the 12 best groups can compete in the main event and the winner gets a price and everything. During that weekend and the one prior to that, there are also other smaller tournaments for the other groups (from 13th to 42nd positions).
- Human Castles originate from a "dance" in Valencia, in which they made small human towers at the ending of the dances. Then those constructions started gaining relevance and difficulty and over time they became independent, and they spread to the southern parts of Catalonia, over 200 years ago. That's the origin of the human castles ^^

[@denniscallan]

Wow! Thank you so much for that fascinating information and history, much appreciated.

[@nosoyrando2336]

@@denniscallan No problem! Thank you for being interested in our culture!

[@MaikeVogtLueerssen]

Absolutely GREAT!

[@callmeghoul9403]

Seeing these in person is crazy

[@wsbcn692]

Human towers, Barcelona , Catalonia

[@MGdelOeste]

, Spain

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

Estáis acomplejados no jodas

[@dkchen]

Why do they do this? Because they !#$%ing can!!