The country of Spain in Western Europe is famous for its festivals and traditions. There is one tradition that takes place in the Spanish region of Catalonia which is unbelievable. The tradition is known as ‘Casteller’ which means Castles. These are not castles that you build with bricks. They are made with humans!
The tradition began in the 18th century when different groups of people would compete with other groups to build the best human castles. This would usually take place in the town square. Anyone who was not taking part would come to watch.
The objective sounds simple: build a human castle, then dismantle it. You can imagine that it’s nowhere near as easy as saying it.
To begin with, a large group forms the base. These are the strongest members as they have to hold up the tower. Once the base is in position, the people who are forming the tower move in. They create human layers by standing on one another’s shoulders. They move as quickly as they can. Sometimes there can be 10 storeys of people.
As soon as they are in place, the smallest member of the group, usually a young child, will climb to the very top, raise one hand in the air and show four fingers. It is said that the fingers represent the four stripes of the Catalonian flag. The crowd cheers when this happens, but it is not over until all the castle builders have climbed down safely.
As the human castle is built, traditional music is played. It all adds to the fun and excitement of the event.
Castle building is taken very seriously. Many groups train four times each week. They have to be very strong, fit and brave. They cannot be afraid of heights either! Some are as young as five years old, whilst others are over 90 and have been building castles for most of their lives. It’s a tradition that brings the community together, and it makes spectacular entertainment for all those watching.
A team of castle builders from Hangzhou travelled to Spain recently to take part in Casteller contest. They achieved a nine-layer castle! They first learnt about this tradition at the Shanghai Expo in 2010.
Watching the human castles being built is fascinating! Take a look here:
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