Castellers among the vineyards

Vilafranca del Penedès hosts two of the main reasons for pride of Catalan culture: wine and 'castells'

For the foreign eye, human towers might look preposterous. But in Catalonia casells are a way of life, a tradition of the eighteenth century. For members of the Colla -Catalan name of the group that raises the Castells (or castles)-, the castellers, getting on top of other people into a tower several meters is more than just a hobby: it is part of the identity of the land.

Els Castellers de Vilafranca, a group founded in 1948, brings together more than 400 people of different age, social status and genre. Castells are an element of Catalan traditional culture and popular, which symbolize the personal effort of group members to help the group to build a common project: the castle.

Castellers from Vilafranca presume to be a major Collas of the casteller world, which has managed to complete all Castells that can be seen today in places. and has accomplished very complex constructions without interruption since 1995. In addition, this group, which makes spectacular rehearsals for the public, has won most of Tarragona biennial competitions in recent years.

In fact, the Place de la Vila of the wine capital of the High Penedes, is given the status of being “la plaza más castellera”, title forged as a result of Vilafranca's fidelity to Castells. Since the eighteenth century, the square has staged exhibitions every year. The Castellers even survived the crisis of the first quarter of the twentieth century, the so called ‘éxodo rural’, when people massively moved from the countryside and small villages to big cities.

Celebrations of castellers in Vilafranca:

October: Festividad castellera del Roser. Fiesta de la colla castellera Xicots de Vilafranca. Actuación castellera. www.xicotsdevilafranca.com

Festividad castellera de San Miquel. Patrón de la colla castellera Castellers de Vilafranca. Actuación castellera. www.castellersdevilafranca.com