Castells and castellers

The word castell means castle in Catatlan. Castellers belong to a colla castellera (team) whose aim is to make the most impressive castell (human tour) at festivals in Catalonia.
Dressed in traditional costume (usually white trousers, black sash, shawl and colored shirt with the team’s emblem) they castellers are usually barefoot.
The sash is the most important part of their clothing since it protects the lower part of the back and it’s very useful as an additional help in climbing. This piece of cloth has diverse lengths and heights depending on the casteller’s position inside the tower and also on personal taste. Its length can range from 1,5 to 8 meters, and it is usually shorter for higher positions.
The castellers climb into tiers of up to seven levels. The one who climbs to the top of the tower is know as the enxaneta.

The casteller motto is: "Strength, balance, courage and reason".

The tradition originated in the Spanish region of Catalonia; more specifically, in the southern part of that region in Valls, near the city of Tarragona and later spread to other regions of Catalonia.

Besides the climbers, there are also many people needed in the pinya (the base of the castell), who help to sustain the weight and act as a sort of safety net.
Castells are mainly described by the number of people standing at the base and the number of levels. The ground level (pinya) is the first level, and the top three levels are normally different from the rest
The elements a castell may consist of are as follows:
pinya (bulk): The densely arranged crowd of people at the base of the tower. Here is where most of the people are. Its function is to sustain the second level, lighten the weight on the basement people and to soften the impact if anyone falls.
enxaneta (rider) : The topmost child.
aixecador (riser): The person sustaining the enxaneta.
dosos (seconds): The level sustaining the aixecador.
pom de dalt (bunch from the top): The top three levels of the castell: dosos, aixecador, and enxaneta.
folre (cover): A crowd standing on the pinya and sustaining the third level.
manilles (cover): A crowd standing on the folre and sustaining the fourth level.
agulla (needle) : A single-person-per-floor tower (pilar) inside the castell, which when the castell is being undone has to remain standing until the outside part of the castell is already down.

Castells up to 10 levels have been built.

Information compiled with the help of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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