The death-defying human towers of Catalonia | 7NEWS Spotlight

[@lulucestmoi]

This is the representation of our soul. Thanks and VISCA CATALUNYA!

[@asotoniu]

The teams do not come from anywhere in Spain, only from Catalonia.

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

For foreigners. Catalonia is already free. It's part of Spain because that is how the majority of Catalans want it democratically. Those who speak of Free Catalonia want to use violence so that they can get what they want within a minority. Thanks for watching this video, we Spaniards are strong and united people and this is proof of that. Thank you from Catalonia 🖤🇪🇦

[@asotoniu]

@@Daniel-fp7qn Catalonia is part of Spain because it lost the War of Succession (1701-1714) agains Castile and France. It lost it because Britain and Austria sold Catalonia in exchange of territories and other concessions: Gibraltar, Menorca, Parts of Canada, The Netherlands, Parts of Italy, the exclusive right to trade slaves between Africa and America, etc., etc. Spain also had to accept the Salic Law, which was one of the causes of the three Guerras Carlistas and, indirectly, the ETA terrorist war (See Treaties of Utrech 1713). Catalonia has never attacked Spain. The Spanish Government attacks Catalonia systematically.

[@ndorib]

@@asotoniu ZZZzzzzz....

[@asotoniu]

@@ndorib Too many words and no pictures is more than your brain can handle?

[@pizzaipinya2442]

​@@Daniel-fp7qnpolitics have nothing to do with castells. Saying castells only happen in Catalonia and are a Catalan tradition is not politics, it's a FACT. It's like saying flamenco comes from Andalusia, or fallas and paella are Valencian. If we wanted to talk about if Catalonia should or not be part of Spain, that's a whole other matter not related to castells.

[@starlight6545]

I have been there Catalonia twice the of 2014 and 2016 on the 7 to 14 of April i really miss this place, i will always treasure it in my heart for the rest of my life

[@taulguedi637]

You are always welcome.

[@growler777]

@@taulguedi637 Exacte. We will receive you with open arms, pal.

[@atherisGAY]

I love how appreciative and respectful the host is. He seemed to feel very honored to participate. But please realize this is not a spanish tradition but a tradition from Catalonia ❤

[@rosabenito7676]

Y dónde está Cataluña?

[@tirsabril5494]

@@rosabenito7676 Ahora mismo, en la mierda por culpa de España. Pero estamos trabajando para cambiar eso.

[@rosabenito7676]

Ten en cuenta que, tal y como están las cosas, se te podría acusar (y con razón) de delito de odio. Cataluña está en España porque es España; en cuanto a las fobias particulares o grupales que tenga cada cual, ahí no entro. Saludos, compatriota.

[@P0L_03]

​@@rosabenito7676 Catalunya actualmente es un pais (que no estado, no os tiréis a mi yugular aun😅) dentro de España. Geográficamente está en el noreste. Espero haberte ayudado 😊

[@rosabenito7676]

@@P0L_03 Cuántos países, según tú, hay en España?

[@erichaskell]

Not everyone will win but to the victors, a lifetime of positive memories.

[@korro5870]

And handicap for the NOT SO LUCKY ONES

[@JavierBonillaC]

And the losers, they are also blessed with discipline and camaraderie.

[@JavierBonillaC]

The discipline and camaraderie of this practice has to be very rewarding for life.

[@danielcruz7672]

Strength, Balance, Courage and Sanity !!!

[@diegogarciaferre7706]

flamenco and bullfighters are not related with Catalonia nor with "castells". The background music should be different

[@mussaranya]

1:08 In Spanish they don't call them "Castells", because there is no tradition in Spain. In Catalonia, in Catalan language, we call them "castells".

[@mussaranya]

2:10 Flamenco in order to indroduce a catalan city?? Are you guys sure that you have understood anything of the place you've visited?? Because you're using sterotype afetr stereotype!!

[@mussaranya]

7:07 Again, there is no colles (teams) from "all over" Spain, they all come from catalonia, or maybe from other places amongst the Catalan Countries, but no colles from Spain.

[@taulguedi637]

Really, really nice but allow me an observation, please. I am a little bit tired of the spanish guitar with the documentals of Human Towers. The music is beautiful but is not the tradicional music of Catalonia. It's like if in a documental of Andalusia we would put music of Catalonia. It's very weird... (Any disrespect to the spanish guitar, of course). Again: really nice!

[@marietaylor5174]

This would be awesome to watch live!

[@rebeccagutierrez1960]

My paternal ancestor was from this region. I will visit there one day.

[@manuelgomez1412]

To affirm that "Castell" is a Spanish word is the same profound (antiscientific, antiphilological) error, as to affirm that "Castle" is a word of the German language. In German it is not called "castle", but "Schloss" or "Burg". In Catalan it is called "castell" which, translated into English, it means "castle". These human towers are called "castells", in the original Catalan language, because it is a Catalan tradition and not Spanish or Castilian. It's necessary to know how to differentiate what is Catalan, from what is Spanish. Catalonia is a nation... And Spain is another different nation. It is parallel how it is necessary to know how to differentiate Irish things from English things... What is Norwegian, from what is Swedish... The Spanish, the Portuguese... What is Czech, from what is Slovak... The Gibraltar, from the Spanish... The Ukrainian, the Russian... The Dutch, the German... The Slovenian, the Serbian... The Greek, the Turkish.

[@rosabenito7676]

El catalán es lengua cooficial española .Los castells no son una tradición castellana, obviamente, como tampoco la Catedral de Burgos es catalana, paro ambos, los castells y la Catedral de Burgos, son ejemplos de la cultura española. Es necesario hacer pedagogía incluso con los que ya tendrían que saberlo.

[@gattetta]

@@rosabenito7676 lengua oficial. Cuando hay 2 lenguas con el mismo rango de oficialidad las 2 lenguas son cooficiales respecto a la otra. Es necesario hacer pedagogía incluso con los que ya tendrían que saberlo.

[@rosabenito7676]

@@gattetta Pero sólo una de ellas es vernácula en todas las regiones y obligatoria de enseñar.

[@gattetta]

@@rosabenito7676 aunque se hablen el inglés o el español son idiomas no vernáculos de las partes Catalanoparlantes, Vascoparlantes o gallegoparlantes de España; en estas partes el Español és una lengua impuesta por el estado.

[@rosabenito7676]

@@gattetta La ideología no designa la realidad. Vernáculo significa propia de la región; el español es propio de todas las regiones de España y de todos los países donde es el idioma oficial, por más que tengan otras lenguas aborígenes hermosas y ancestrales. Si comparas al inglés con el español como idiomas foráneos a Cataluña está todo dicho.

[@ytSCHNIBERG]

J’admire cette courage, la force

[@restlessmind4506]

Proud of the values of my people. Catalans not Spanish guys. Teamwork and love each other. Think about it

[@leogaspacho4334]

REALLY HOW COME YOU NEVER FREE YOURSELFS WHEN MOORS WHERE THERE PUCKS!!

[@AguedaG]

Catalans ARE Spanish, yesterday, now and forever.

[@Yosoyosoy]

@@leogaspacho4334 because catalans only way to unite or colaborate is doing those towers.

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

For foreigners. Catalonia is already free. It's part of Spain because that is how the majority of Catalans want it democratically. Those who speak of Free Catalonia want to use violence so that they can get what they want within a minority. Thanks for watching this video, we Spaniards are strong and united people and this is proof of that. Thank you from Catalonia 🖤🇪🇦

[@TheJeroenTitulaer]

Dutch guy here....doing this for more then 20 years with my team, Castellers de Vilafranca, we do more towers of then now these days...but yeah it is hard.... great Catalan tradition !

[@nojamstrasheu2828]

Imagine how close everyone is! This is just a best way to have friends from ur own country/town.

[@ndorib]

When your from a town/small city of 5.000 to 20.000 inhabitants, "Castells" can be really a good way to socialize, but it's not really a need.

[@santakosoundsystem7542]

Freedom & independence for Catalonia!

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

For foreigners. Catalonia is already free. It's part of Spain because that is how the majority of Catalans want it democratically. Those who speak of Free Catalonia want to use violence so that they can get what they want within a minority. Thanks for watching this video, we Spaniards are strong and united people and this is proof of that. Thank you from Catalonia 🖤🇪🇦

[@sergioortiz8219]

Freedom from what exactly? You are not oppressed in the slightest, so don't make it sound like you're living under the yoke of tyrants in Madrid. The world needs fewer borders, not more.

[@xavierdotras]

This is not Spain. It's Catalonia!

[@danielcruz7672]

Strength, balance, courage and sanity !!!!

[@j4m32hz6]

Wow I've never seen such a thing

[@stephanieritter4771]

Thats really amazing... And the reporter is truly a beautiful man

[@elenapashaeva1]

This is such a sweet and wonderful episode of yours! Amazing story👍🏻

[@hellenarts2949]

Amazing but there are a mistake. The word castells it's not Spanish, it's a catalan word. This is our identity as a catalan people. There are not castells in Spain, it's a catalan tradition with more than 300 years of history, when Catalonia was a free Nation.

[@MrsLizziee]

Catalonia was never independent, it was a county of the Aragon crown. Please stop repeating lies.

[@dcf5245]

@@MrsLizziee As always there is some spaniard saying that our culture and history does not deserve respect, but well, all can read a history book and there is a dear of agreement between historians who are neither spanish (conservatives) nor catalans about our history (and spoiler, it seems to be like catalan historians says)... Catalonia was a part of Aragon Crown as an independent territory under the name of Comtat de Barcelona during XII-XIV centuries and Principat de Catalunya in XV's and more, and Catalonia was used normaly to speak about theland (not titles) from XII until our days. And was "independent" because Crown of Aragon, as soon as federal empires in center of europe, was a federal union of different lands as equals. Crown of Aragon is the name that took te territory unified under the crown, but with two (in the beginning) territory united's as equal, Kingdom of Aragorn, and County of Barcelona (And after, Regne de Valencia, Mallorca, Sicily and Naples) in fact the Aragonese Crown flag is the flag from Barcelona's County House adopted by the crown when the realm was founded. But, well all of these are just history, the most important thing now is our right to become a free contry if we want, and does not matters if we were a contry, nation or just a bunch of people with same spirit of liberty, but we want spain's goverment respect our rights :)

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

For foreigners. Catalonia is already free. It's part of Spain because that is how the majority of Catalans want it democratically. Those who speak of Free Catalonia want to use violence so that they can get what they want within a minority. Thanks for watching this video, we Spaniards are strong and united people and this is proof of that. Thank you from Catalonia 🖤🇪🇦

[@hellenarts2949]

@@MrsLizziee , it was, since 1714 Catalonia is just a part of Spain. You are free to read about it

[@Ashira_N_A]

Catalan is Spanish. Castilian is only one Spanish language out of various that gained national dominance, but there is more than one Spanish language.

[@ndorib]

When I hear spanish Guitard in a video talking about castells it's like hearing country music in a documentary talking about Maine. It just doesn't make sense at all

[@danielcruz7672]

You don't have to think that. In Catalonia good music is appreciated like anywhere else. And many of the greatest flamenco artists are Catalan. In fact there is a "PALO" of purely Catalan falmenco such as RUMBA CATALANA.

[@mussaranya]

@@danielcruz7672 L'altre!! Vinga, la rumba catalana un pal flamenc!! I la propera bajanada què serà? Que les sardanes son un tipus de sevillana??

[@rosabenito7676]

@@mussaranya Destilas odio, amigo, relájate.

[@justinkoenig1706]

@@danielcruz7672 Exactly. Music has its origins, but it is owned by no one. If you have space in your heart, then it is equally yours. Sadly, parts of Spain haven't found space in their hearts for Andalucian cultural contributions. Not much solidarity in Spain. ☹

[@patrisss]

7:07 12 teams from all over Catalonia, not Spain

[@JavierTur-d3z]

Y cataluña donde esta?...en ESPAÑA...PALETO.....

[@patrisss]

@@JavierTur-d3z sí, está en España pero dice “12 equipos de toda España” y no es así, son de toda Cataluña. No hay ni uno de fuera de Cataluña

[@ManderzArl]

In before the covid comments. Read the description before commenting. This story originally aired in 2018.

[@silviasune7598]

Posar com a música de fons a “Aranjuez” és una total ofensa!! Demostració d’ignorància i de molt poc interès en el reportatge que estan fent! 🤬🤬🤬 Si parlen de competició castellera, haver posat la música castellera!! Quins collons!! 😡😡😡👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

[@rosabenito7676]

Odiadores natos, incapaces de distinguir un mero acontecimiento cultural de la política.

[@fantis2003]

Catalonia it s not Spain, it s not a spanish tradition..they are talking in catalan

[@KrlKngMrtssn]

Y toma, y dale, y sigue, y dale y toma que catalán paquí y pallá en la sección de comentarios .... basta ya, como si a un australiano le importase algo el sentimiento de identidad. Si va de Castells! no del pu****ñetero romanticismo local. Ya está bien, a ver si nos salimos de la burbujita y nos damos una vuelta por Hispanoamérica, así nos enamoramos de algo más que de nuestra ombligo.

[@Hans85Co]

Que hermoso.. me encantaría asistir y participar algún día. Sería un honor

[@tsads566]

Tradition, cultures it’s their life... enjoy the program and the fall as well.

[@Sarah.Riedel]

I was in the third percentile for height and weight for my age as a kid so I would've been great at this lol

[@KrlKngMrtssn]

The sick and intense emphasis in the comment section to highlight the separation, the differences, the non spanishness etc is the only thing you can extract from such a beautiful documentary? The sheer fanaticism and hate for historic Spain we know where it comes from and it's just horrible.

[@CategoricalImperative]

They should put the “sh*tt*ng log” on top lmao. Look it up.

[@silviaserra2640]

Aquí el flamenco no pinta nada 😢

[@user-yp2oz1ib1b]

Have you ever seen indian human towers ?~

[@taulguedi637]

Yes, there is a video where catalan castellers make a castell for Dahi Handi in India. Was very cool.

[@user-cb6jw5ky1i]

Epic people climbing people 👍

[@mariajesusparga1936]

Valencia y Cataluña

[@silviasune7598]

No. València és la muixeranga, no és el mateix.

[@toniramon1186]

A tot arreu han de sortir els axafaguitarres,quins pesats i torracollons

[@dcf5245]

"Castells" is in catalan not spanish, a different language, but thnks for share this! And well, around "castells" world, there is not a lot of people who feel himself spaniard, it's better use catalan people.

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

For foreigners. Catalonia is already free. It's part of Spain because that is how the majority of Catalans want it democratically. Those who speak of Free Catalonia want to use violence so that they can get what they want within a minority. Thanks for watching this video, we Spaniards are strong and united people and this is proof of that. Thank you from Catalonia 🖤🇪🇦

[@dcf5245]

@@Daniel-fp7qn Really? Catalans want to be in spain? we don't know it, spain don't let us vote and uses violence to stop the referendum few years ago, so don't talk about violence. You are happy because you feel yourself spanish but not all of us fell that and we only want to vote it in freedom. In fact, the majority of our parliment as pro independence so.. but dosen't matter, te world se in 2017 what happened and one thing are the economic and politic interests and other one is freedom. As many conutry's arround the world who speak an figth about freedom even if the economic and politic interets stay agains us, we will keep fighting.

[@anonimnianonimni9599]

I have to say it’s looks awesome

[@christineschultz3176]

I wonder if anyone farts in someone’s nose! Lol

[@susanastephens7156]

It's not Spanish,it's Catalan

[@Daniel-fp7qn]

For foreigners. Catalonia is already free. It's part of Spain because that is how the majority of Catalans want it democratically. Those who speak of Free Catalonia want to use violence so that they can get what they want within a minority. Thanks for watching this video, we Spaniards are strong and united people and this is proof of that. Thank you from Catalonia 🖤🇪🇦

[@susanastephens7156]

@@Daniel-fp7qn mi familia es y a sido siempre Catalana .. Mis bis Abuelos y sus antepasados solo conocian su propia lengua ...al igual que mis otros antepasados Gallegos ...Las torres son costumbres propias, esto no es nada de nacionalismo pero ciertas cosas solo pertenecen a ciertas culturas ..Como por ejemplo la queimada, la sardana o el flamenco

[@itzjustclutch7882]

That’s amazing and scary

[@davidbarrett8058]

Great story Ch 7

[@belasolis8313]

imagine people hitting each other’s on the head 😱💀

[@eduardaramos2897]

os que estão embaixo deveriam usar capacetes, pra se os de cima caírem eles não machucarem a cabeça

[@s1n802]

The reason they don't, is when the upper group falls, they don't land on a hard surface that'll break their bones. The helmet will help if a small object lands on it, not when a bigger object, in this case a human, lands on it. It'll do more damage than without. They are trained to either bow down their heads or look straight up, when the group above them fall. I'm not a participant, I've just seen a few videos with this and had exactly the same thoughts as you. 😄

[@TrendingNew-gv8rl]

Come to India 🇮🇳

[@jordicastano4960]

my God,, you didn't get it...."In Spain there are no teams" . This is a unique Catalan issue!!! and you get paid for it...jajajaj..

[@DanielleFerreira-kt7ix]

How come children are allowed to do it?

[@menjiii01]

I'm wondering the same thing. I think this is madness. It's mesmerising to watch but scary.

[@restlessmind4506]

They wanna do it that’s the point. They are the most important on this game.

[@taulguedi637]

It's much more save than other sports (like judo, for example). Just take a look to the numbers.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

Only 3% of castells fall, and there's been only 1 death in recent history, and that was before the helmet's introduction. In Catalonia, there are more injuries due to children's football league than to castells... It's actually safer than most popular sports! :)

[@faraz5470]

Its a high madness.this is not only thing to make record.

[@nojamstrasheu2828]

Spain but S is silent

[@kingslypereira1170]

Keep it up guys 😂😂..spain culture has even spread to Goa .

[@caitlinhollett5298]

Social distancing was clearly not a priority 😂🤣😂

[@whathe4633]

Lol covid probably had a blast at that event

[@misisaful]

This was before covid

[@user-up6nw6fz3x]

Recorded in 2018

[@noonefromearth2916]

Dahi haandi..makhan chorr

[@brigettetucker6599]

No thank you

[@unholychicken6210]

That's sad

[@user-cb6jw5ky1i]

Boohoo

[@luisthekingjaime94]

It’s a tradition

[@fatmastawbry6090]

dangerous&foolish.

[@lorir5728]

Yep. Broken necks . so much fun.

[@luisthekingjaime94]

This has been around for 500 years

[@MrsLizziee]

That has never happened in 5 centuries but yes, sure. Lol

[@user-up6nw6fz3x]

Only 3% of the attempts fail. And most of the falls end in no injuries at all. But falls are spectacular and they are over represented on TV.

[@KrlKngMrtssn]

Y toma, y dale, y sigue, y dale y toma que catalán paquí y pallá en la sección de comentarios .... basta ya, como si a un australiano le importase algo el sentimiento de identidad. Si va de Castells! no del pu****ñetero romanticismo local. Ya está bien, a ver si nos salimos de la burbujita y nos damos una vuelta por Hispanoamérica, así nos enamoramos de algo más que de nuestra ombligo.

[@catherinemorris908]

Do not really care.

[@Iris-vo5gd]

How can anyone be ok with this primitive irresponsible bullshit?! Especially when it comes to kids! 😡

[@lluisfargaslopez9603]

Well, we find your tradition of school shooting much more barbaric to be fair.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

Documentaries always exagerate the amount of falls due to its spectacularity. Only 3% of castells fall. Actually there are more injuries in Catalonia due to football than to castells!!! Physicists in Catalan universities have studied castells and have concluded that the people at the base reduce the impact by 60% (they work like an airbag!). Also, a special helmet for the children has been developed to avoid any possible damage, as well as the traditional "faixa", which is the thing around the tummy, which reinforces the spine, avoiding spine injuries. Although it doesn't seem that at first glance, it's actually pretty safe!!! :)

[@fikaa2388]

I'm just curious if you would report this positively and with such ecstasy about the use of children and risking their health and safety if this was practiced somewhere else, say in a non-Western country that is not very close to you?

[@pizzaipinya2442]

They're not risking their health. In Catalonia more child are injured annually due to football than to castells. This is actually pretty safe :)

[@fikaa2388]

@@pizzaipinya2442 I do not believe that this information is correct, or at least that you are interpreting it correctly, because football takes place throughout the whole year, and this is only once a year, so of course there will be more football-related injuries, but it is clear to anyone with common sense that this it can't be safer than football!

[@pizzaipinya2442]

@@fikaa2388 you're wrong. There's the championship in Tarragona once every 2 years, but these people train every week and also every time there's a town's holiday there are castells too. The average must be at least one performance every week, without taking into account all the training sessions.

[@pizzaipinya2442]

@@fikaa2388 These people are professionals who, as I said, train every week. There are techniques on how to fall correctly, and studies show that the people at the bottom act like an airbag, reducing the impact a 60%. Even more, the helmet was specially designed in Catalan universities to be the safest for castells (it's not a normal helmet). In addition, take into account that only 3% of castells fall, the rest are completed without any problem :)