The word “Castell” in Catalan means Castle. A Castell is a human tower resembling a pyramid built by the participants climbing over one another’s shoulder. Made with geometric precision, the success of a tower depends on how the weight is kept distributed throughout the structure. With its origin in the rural areas of Catalonia, this performance has now gained unique ethnic importance, especially after the democratic transition of Spain in the 1980s.

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What is striking about Castelling is despite its strong traditional roots, it is unconditionally open to anybody. With its democratising and inclusive characteristics, the performance can provide usefulness for everyone regardless of age, gender, and physical attributes, social or financial or even political backgrounds. Parallels can be drawn between the structure of the tower with the characteristics of a plural and inclusive society. In the process of building something larger than the individual self, petty differences of class and socio-economic hierarchies take the backseat. It is common to observe someone of a socially superior position humbly bend down for someone inferior but more able to climb the way up. The success of a tower depends on the "enxaneta", a child, usually a girl, climbing over the shoulders of people who are generations older to “crown” the castell.

  

In a society that is slowly driven towards identity and class-based polarisations, a community-based performance like Castelling can offer newer directions about the formation of a social structure that is based not on class consciousness and ideology but through the associational culture and on contributory attributes of an individual in society.