HUMAN TOWERS (“CASTELLS”) TRADITIONAL SPORT FROM CATALONIA AND VALENCIAN COUNTRY

DIFFERENT TRADITIONAL SPORTS IN SPAIN Spain diversity consists of different areas, where everyone has their own culture and traditional sport. Here you are some of them: Basque Ball and Aizkolaris both are from Euskadi (Basque Country) Canary Fight (“Lucha canaria”) from Canary Islands.

HUMAN TOWERS FROM CATALONIA AND VALENCIAN COUNTRY “Els castells” (Human Towers) are only a tradition in Catalonia and Valencian country Some people say that castellers (people who make Castells) are crazy, because it could be a bit dangerous.

The Human Tower origin There are several opinions about the origins of human towers. Some people think that they have a prehistoric origin, when iberian ( a very old civilisation in Iberian Peninsula) used to attack enemies settlements. Other people say that they have a religious origin. In religious festivals, some dancers finished their dances making human figures as an offer to Virgin Mary.

THE TOWER COMPOSITION The Human Towers are made by women and men of different ages, and they have to work together. The oldest people are situated on the bottom and the younger ones on the top. In the last years the “anxaneta” has to use a helmet, because there were some sad accidents in the past The boy or girl on the top of the tower is called “Anxaneta”. They usually are 6 or 7 years old.

The base (“La pinya”) One of the most important parts of the castells is “la pinya”, the base. It holds all the tower. The castellers teams are really big. But sometimes people from the audience help them to make “la pinya”.

Here you can see some examples Sometimes the castellers only can raise the tower but the success is to raise and also to go down. eature=related Making a human tower is a team effort and the most popular phrase that describes the qualities of a good casteller is: strength, balance, courage and wisdom.