Photos

Here the second picture about the human castels in Barcelona (see here first picture: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Spain/photo285847.htm)

"Castells" –is a Catalonian word for castles- they are a cultural phenomenon particular to Catalonia and consist of erecting human towers. This tradition originated at the end of the 18th century in Valls, Tarragona, when rival groups of people called "colles", began to compete in constructing the different kinds of human towers we can still see today.

There are three definite parts to a castle; the "pinya" or base the "tronc" or trunk and the "pom de dalt” or the crown of the castle. The "pinya" is the horizontal base of the construction on which all the accumulated weight rests and is used to stabilise and strengthen the erected structure, as well as softening or breaking the falls if any should occur. The vertical structure perpendicular to the pinya is the trunk and consists of a certain number of people on each storey, varying from 1 to 9 people depending on the castle and this also gives us the name of the castle. At the very top of the castle are the "canalla" (which means youngsters), and they make up the "pom de dalt”, the crown of the castle, and because they are more agile and light-footed they are the ones in charge of climbing to the very top.
As the castle is erected different tunes are played to identify what is happening. E.g. see the "toc de castells" (the castle’s reveille). The "gralla" an old kind of pipe and the “timbal” a small drum are the traditional musical accompaniment to castle performances and are as much an exciting part of it as the castle building in itself. The beginning and the end of each performance have their own special tunes ("toc d'entrada a la plaça" – entering the square- which urges the people to come and watch and "toc de vermut” - refreshment time-") that signals the time to have a snack after the performance.