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Human castles may make UNESCO World Heritage list
You gotta love Spain. Not only do they like having giant tomato fights and getting chased through the streets by bulls, but they build giant castles out of people.
That's right. Not content with having some of the best castles in Europe, the Spaniards like constructing living towers up to ten people high. Called a castell, the tradition originated in the region of Catalonia in the 18th century.
A bunch of strong, big castellars make up the pinya (base) and support their teammates as they create level upon level with progressively fewer (and lighter) people. Once a level is complete, the people who make up the next one climb up the backs of the others and take their place. Then the top person, called an enxaneta (rider) climbs all the way to the very top and, supported by only two people, raises a hand with four fingers up to symbolize the Catalan flag. The enxaneta and the very top levels are often made up of children to lighten the load on the bottom levels. Then the castell disassembles itself from the top down by each level climbing back to the ground. Only when everyone is safely back on the ground is the castell considered a success.
It's an unusual tradition and now the castellars are applying to get their art on UNESCO's list of "intangible world heritage". The list includes examples of rare cultural practices that are relatively unknown and unpracticed outside a certain region. Check out the website for more bizarre and amazing practices around the world.
Filed under: Climbing, Arts and Culture, Europe, Spain, Video
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
nzm Nov 15th 2010 1:34PM
Another cool video here of Castellers de Vilafranca making their first stack of 8 in their history. Great shots looking down so you can see how wide the pinya is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2wRcaiuNTw&feature=share
grimborg Nov 16th 2010 10:48AM
Very nice explanation of the castells :)
Mark, however, that they are not a tradition of the Spaniards, but of the Catalans. There are no castells outside of Catalonia.
Jordi Nov 16th 2010 10:58AM
Nice Explanation but Human Towers ARE NOT a Spanish tradition.. it's ONLY a catalan tradition.
Catalonia since 1714 belongs to Spain, but this tradition it's only Catalan.
Sean McLachlan Nov 16th 2010 11:02AM
Ah yes, the old "Catalans are/aren't Spaniards" debate! Living part time in Spain I've heard all sorts of people tell me they aren't Spanish. Until I see Catalan, Basque, and Galician passports I'm calling everyone Spaniards.
David Nov 17th 2010 3:37PM
Sean, remember that Gandhi had a British passport. So, under your "logic", he was British.
Sean McLachlan Nov 17th 2010 3:40PM
Yes he was, until India became a nation. Are you saying non-white people can't be British? I know quite a few Indians in London who would disagree with you!
David Nov 19th 2010 1:22PM
India became a nation? When? 2,000 years BC? And who said anything about any sort of race, nazi?
Sean McLachlan Nov 19th 2010 1:35PM
Quick history lesson for the clueless:
India was part of the British Empire when Gandhi was born. Therefore he was a citizen of the British Empire. He helped India gain its independence, at which point he was a citizen of India. Gaining India's independence is kinda what Gandhi is famous for. You should read up on it sometime.
PIOLO Nov 16th 2010 12:52PM
NEVER IN SPAIN WERE MAKE THE CASTELLS, THEY ARE ONLY A CATALAN TRADITION, DONT FORGET IT, AND OF COURSE CATALONIA IS NOT SPAIN (BUT PLENTY OF SPANIARDS...)
Sílvia Nov 16th 2010 12:52PM
Sean,
You can call us Catalans whatever you want, like the Spanish do. It doesn't really matter to us: we know who we are and where we are, irrespective of what a piece of paper or ignorant people say.
Something that I am afraid you can not say about yourself, since you are writing about Castells without really knowing what they are: a pure Catalan tradition. Your ignorance about our history and culture is flagrant.
Would you say that flamenco is a Catalan tradition? No, right? Why all Catalan traditions and Catalan outstanding people (Castells, Modernism, Gaudi, Dali, football players, Pau Gasol, to name a few) are always presented as Spanish, but it is never the other way round? Have you ever thought about it? Haven't you considered the possibility that Spain is always trying to appropiate of all what is Catalan while denying our identity? They can only accept us if we renounce to our Catalanity. That's why we will never be Spanish.
Independence is just a matter of time.
You should definitely read more -and travel with more insight- before writing.
Silvia
Sean McLachlan Nov 16th 2010 6:10PM
Why are Catalan traditions presented as Spanish and not the other way around? Because Catalonia is a region of Spain and not the other way around. Catalans, Galicians, and Castilians are all Spanish, just like New Yorkers, Californians, and Alabamans are all Americans. Different cultures, different dialects, same country.
Yes, Catalonia has a regional culture and a regional dialect like every other region in Spain, but don't exaggerate your differences. That's how wars start.
Kilian Nov 17th 2010 9:30AM
Sean, Catalan is not a dialect but a romance language. Check any encyclopedia for that matter. Spanish is also spoken in Catalonia since late XIX century because it was imposed by force, but it's not our language.
Catalonia is a nation and has been a nation longer than Spain. It's not better or worse than any other nation, but it is a nation. Last July there was a huge demonstration in Barcelona with the motto "We are a nation. We decide". In fact it was one of the biggest demonstrations in the history of Europe. Some images: http://bit.ly/9lismV
Sílvia Nov 17th 2010 9:30AM
Once again: read more. Catalan is not a regional dialect. It's another language, another romance language, like Italian, Portuguese, French or Romanian, which for political and historical reasons is now within the territory known as Spain. Catalans are not bilingual by nature: our native language is Catalan. Spanish was imposed in Catalonia precisely through wars and prohibitions of our own language. Ignorance of others: that's how wars start, yes.
Sílvia Nov 17th 2010 9:31AM
I just want to add a few more remarks.
Catalan is also spoken in the south of France -what we call Northern Catalonia-, Andorra (where it is the only official language) and Italy -l'Alguer, Alghero, Sardinia. So that makes four different states and a number of around 9 milion speakers of Catalan in Europe (greater than those who speak Danish or Finnish).
As you can see, not all Catalan speakers are Spanish, which is the best evidence that we Catalans are not Spanish. Also, and when it comes to our flag, the one that represented Catalonia in the 13th century is the very same one that represents it still. Whereas the Spanish flag was invented by decree on May the 28th of 1785.
On the other hand, Catalan is the 26th internet language, with 7,140,000 pages, and the 19th by relative number of web pages indexed per speaker, ahead of Spanish (24th), Portuguese (31st) and Chinese (33rd). The .cat domain is the first in the world to be based on a purely cultural and linguistic definition.
Sean McLachlan Nov 17th 2010 11:07AM
If Catalan is a separate language, why can I understand it with my Castilian Spanish? Castilian doesn't give me the ability to understand German or Arabic. And please don't tell me Catalans are oppressed in Spain, where they are free to fly their flag and speak their dialect. If you want to see oppression go to Kurdistan or Tibet.
silvia Nov 17th 2010 12:25PM
You can understand Catalan for the very same reason I can understand Portuguese, Romanian or Italian without speaking them: because they are all romance languages, which means they all come from latin, whereas German or Italian don't.
And that's all I have to say about Catalans, Catalan or Catalonia to you, because I'm just tired of replying to someone who shows he doesn't have any idea at all of what he's talking about, but who insists on saying he knows better than me what my country, my language or my reality is.
It's just a shame such disinformed and pretentious people like you can write and spread wrong literature, to name it somehow. It's what happens with the internet. Or what happens with the correspondents in Spain who write and generate opinion on Catalonia without ever going out from Madrid.
All we can do is reply and work hard so that people get to know us and become more and more aware and sensitive about our nation, which hopefully some day will become a State.
Silvia
Sean McLachlan Nov 17th 2010 12:44PM
The original objection was that I called Catalans Spaniards. Catalans are Spanish citizens, therefore I am completely correct in calling them Spaniards, just like I call the Palestinian who serves me coffee every morning an American. Indeed he calls himself an American.
I've never trusted nationalists (Americans especially) because they tend to see themselves as superior simply because of the accident of being born into a certain identity. A nice legacy of my Canadian background is not having a strong national identity. This is one reason the Anglos, French, and Native Americans are able to live together in peace. We never had a civil war, unlike the U.S. and Spain.
silvia Nov 17th 2010 12:25PM
Where I said German or Italian I meant German or Arabic.
David Nov 19th 2010 1:14PM
Probably for the same reason I, such as every other Catalan, understand Spanish, Italian, Occitan, Asturian, Aragonese, French or Portuguese even when we never studied before. Any Romance language speaker can easily understand till some point any other Romance language.
silvia Nov 17th 2010 4:56PM
You don't understand anything at all. We don't consider ourselves superior to other nations, we are just asking for the same rights as the rest of nations: that is, having a State, deciding our future by ourselves, having the right to decide. That is democracy.
If you had been born in an oppressed country -meaning that at certain times, depending on the government of the moment, like dictatorships (the last one in Spain ended in 1975, just in case you didn't know, and one of its aims was to wipe out Catalan), you could be executed just because you spoke your own language- perhaps you would have a broader perspective. Once gain: you should read a little bit more about history before judging.
And please, don't be so simplistic: you can't compare the history of American young countries with those of ancient Europe.
Enough.
Silvia