The beauty of “shiny object travel” is that you happen upon a lot of random things you would never find in a guide book. While walking around Barcelona, I saw groups of people who were similarly dressed, all heading to a park.

So I followed them. Not in a creepy stalker way, more like a “What’s all this then?” way.

I had chanced upon a long running Catalan cultural event – Castells. Like other uniquely Spanish activities (see Running of the Bulls and La Tomatina), it’s a unique, crazy and totally random pursuit.

The premise is pretty simple – groups of people get together and train to build human towers of various heights and configurations. In practice, though, they are incredibly well choreographed and experienced so they know exactly when to ascend and what their positions are.

On this afternoon, there were 3 groups from different communities around the area. Each took turns creating their towers, with four rounds per group for a total of 12 towers – all with a unique configuration and varying levels of difficulty.

Step One: The Wrap. All participants are wrapped with a long sheet of fabric. This serves a few purposes – as with a weight lifters belt, it stabilizes the person’s spine for the load they’re about to carry. It also provides creases and foot holds for the people climbing to higher levels.

The wrap is extremely tight for those who are in the middle sections of the tower. This woman put her full weight into ensuring her friend was snug in his rug.

Step Two: The Foundation. The bulk of the members of the team (and the bulkiest members of the team) all group together, pressing hard against each other, raising and clasping fists. In this, there is no competition between teams as others join in to ensure the base is as stable as it can be (hence the mix of green, brown and purple shirts at the bottom level). The team creates its own foundation, then other groups fill in around the outside to keep the pressure on.

Then, the climbing begins. Each group has its own little band of pipers that plays musical accompaniment as the tower gets taller, finishing with a fanfare at the completion.

Step Three: The Ascension. One level at a time, the tower is built – each person knows their position, their role and is acutely aware of the people above and below who depend on them. As you might expect, the people get smaller as the levels get taller.

The participants on the lower levels clench the collars of their shirts in their mouths to prevent any of the climbers from getting caught up on their way to the top.

Step Four: The Crown. Finally, the tower is completed when small children (average age of 7 – 10) climb to the very top, stand on the shoulders of the person below, then wave their arm in the air to signal the successful completion. Some groups get as high as 9 levels, though on this day they topped out at 7.

A successful tower is followed by a quick descent, with kids sliding down as though they’re sliding down a fireman’s pole. The children wear protective helmets in case of any mishaps. There were none I saw, nothing even close. I was told that it’s been many years since there were any injuries of any significance.

Finally, a short video of the final stages of one of the towers I saw built so you can see it in action:

Have you seen any interesting and unexpected activities during your travels?