One of Catalonia’s most unusual traditions, seen above, is the ‘Concurs de Castells’ in which teams of up to 500 members compete to form the tallest ten-tier human pyramid they can. This year’s contest was held last weekend in Tarragona.
No ladders permitted: the members form human buttresses and clamber over each other to reach their assigned spots. The spot at the very top is usually reserved for a small child (carefully helmeted, but still…).
The contest is held every two years and goes back to the 18th century; it’s believed to have originated among dance groups. A team from Vilafranca won this time, as it has for the past 8 contests. This year’s novelty: the first foreign team ever, calling themselves “Els Xiquets de Hangzhou.’ They placed second.
TheLocal.es has both video and a fascinating slide show of pictures from the event, which is a UNESCO-designated ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage.’ Intangible? Tell that to the guys at the bottom, to whom it must be tangible! Click HERE to see.
