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The Eye
gcapdevila@cataloniatoday.cat - 1 November 2014 2.00 h

Tarragona, October 2014

Photo:E. Magre

All together now

- gcapdevila@cataloniatoday.cat

Once a year, thou­sands of Cata­lans join forces in Tar­rag­ona to cel­e­brate one of the most beau­ti­ful of na­tional tra­di­tions: human cas­tles, or castells. A UN­ESCO In­tan­gi­ble Cul­tural Her­itage of Hu­man­ity, castells are the ul­ti­mate ex­am­ple of team­work in ac­tion. There is no place for Mes­sis or Ronal­dos, as every­one has a role to play, from old castellers sup­port­ing the tower from its base, or pinya, to the lit­tle child – the enx­aneta – who crowns the tower.

The an­nual castells con­test in Tar­rag­ona takes place in the city's old bull ring. There is no bull fight­ing here any more, since the Cata­lan par­lia­ment banned it a few years ago. Now the Tar­raco Arena is the home of the castells cham­pi­onship, with dozens of teams, or colles, each with dis­tinc­tive coloured shirts. They com­pete to show off their skills at tower build­ing, the higher the bet­ter. If you missed it this time, make sure you don't miss it next year!

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