In front of a crowd of thousands, Catalans of all ages team up to construct complex human towers, or ‘castells’, a powerful display of regional identity and unity – and fun. The human towers are the ...

The roar of a crowd of thousands in downtown Barcelona falls to a whisper with the whine of a gralla, a Catalan reed instrument. Suddenly, three bodies are hoisted above the melee. They face each ...

The tradition of building the tallest human towers has returned to the Spanish city of Tarragona in a spectacular biennial competition, drawing thousands of awed spectators. Remarkable pictures show ...

Not for Catalans the blood and sweat of the bullring. Instead, they build human towers, known as castells. The main casteller groups (colles de castellers) are from southern Catalonia, in particular ...