Vilafranca group construct unprecedented nine-tier human tower with one person per storey

Castellers de Vilafranca have built an unprecedented human tower in the over 200 years since the tradition began: a nine-storey construction with a single person per tier and three extra support floors to the base: the folre (second storey), the manilles (third) and, for the first time ever, the puntals (fourth). 

Folre and manilles are quite frequent with especially difficult human towers, but it is the first time that any group manages to build a 'castell' with puntals and nine storeys with only one person in each - three and four per storey in nine-tier towers have been seen plenty of times, and even the same structure but in ten storeys is rare but constructed in a few occasions before. 

In the 'castellers' festivity marking the end of the season on All Saints' Day, on Tuesday, 'Verds' made history by building it in their hometown. And, although the structure collapsed shortly after being completed, the crowds in the square where the feat took place had already burst in joy since they knew they had just witnessed an unprecedented event.

Castellers de Vilafranca, the winners of the most famous human tower competition held every two years last month in Tarragona, had just tried the same construction once: on November 1, 2002, twenty years ago.

Yet, that time the tower collapsed before being completed. Since then, no one had dared to attempt it again.

What are 'castells'?

Catalonia's 'castells' were declared an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

Large 'colles' form tiers of differing numbers of people standing on the shoulders of those below them. 

Built to the sound of 'gralla' flutes and drums, human towers are only complete once a helmet-donning child called the 'enxaneta' ascends to the very top of the structure and raises their arm.

"Doing 'castells' has been a popular activity for more than 200 years and they are always associated with traditional celebrations such as ('festa major') village fairs," Ignasi Escamilla, of the Catalan human tower groups association, told Catalan News in June 2022.

According to Escamilla, however, 'castells' are more than just a thing of beauty: "They are a good example of an ideal society. It's the achievement of common goals obtained thanks to the cooperation of different team members."

Listen to our latest Filling the Sink podcast episode to learn more about 'Castells':