When Ed and I scheduled our time in Barcelona (to attend the Love and Hope Film Festival), we didn’t realize we would be there for the La Mercè festival, the biggest weekend of festivities of the year in Barcelona. So many amazing events take place throughout to the city!

Including the Castells, the Human Towers, which is a spectacular tradition unique to Catalonia. 

On the Saturday morning of La Mercè we joined thousands of spectators in the Placa de Sant Jaume marveling at the Castells erected by multiple neighborhood groups.

Watching these incredible constructions be erected is breathtaking, marvelous and unnerving, especially when it happening only meters from where one is standing…

The Spanish and Catalonian flags.

First a serious of groups constructed a variety of human constructions on the placa stage.

Then there were parades of human columns.

The main constructions, the Castells that rise up to 9 levels of humanity towards the heavens, wound up being erected in the midst of the crowd, near where we were standing.

When the child at the very top raises its hands – for a split second – the tower is complete.

And then just as meticulously and perilously the tower is deconstructed one by one…

There were several moments of high drama during the construction of this tower, including an unruly spectator, and the tower shaking alarmingly at one stage of the deconstruction…

Three screenshots from the above video:

More family columns parading through the placa.

Three more human towers, with more close-ups of the individuals at top:

A moment of fear and tears…

…but a quick recovery, and then the top child passes over.

Peek-a-boo!