If you’ve ever tried putting together a drunken human pyramid with your bros for a great picture, then you can definitely appreciate the mind boggling scale of these human towers in Spain. Every two years, teams of castellers– men, women and children who clearly have no fear as well as a shocking amount of trust in each other- compete to create the highest and most difficult to build structure out of nothing but their own bodies, in front of a live audience. There are a lot of reasons to visit Spain, but seeing hundreds of people manipulating themselves like a rubber Jenga set should definitely make it on to your bucket list.
View From the Top – Human Towers from Spain’s Concurs de Castells
The UnfinishedMan team definitely has a thing for Spain; it’s a beautiful place that combines rich history and culture with pristine beaches, great food, and beautiful women. (And that’s selling the country short, really- but those are the most important parts.) Since the Concurs de Castells is only held every second year and these pictures are from the 2012 competition, now’s a great time to start planning next year’s trip to soak up the sun and see this incredible event for yourself. Rent yourself an affordable luxury villa in Marbella, spend a week exploring your way up the coastal beaches, and then culminate your trip by seeing a shifting mass of humanity create a living, breathing, teetering tower of doom. If you need to find a good reason to ask for time off (silky white sand in Costa de Sol might make your boss too jealous,) you can tell everyone you’re on a pilgrimage to better yourself by experiencing a cultural phenomenon declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The organization, strength, patience and trust that these human towers require is nothing short of amazing, and though all of the photos I’ve seen of the Concurs de Castells are pretty mind-bending, this particular set takes the cake. Shot by photographer David Oliete, these striking photos are taken from an overhead perspective that I prefer to imagine had him swinging around in the rafters like a deranged, artistic Tarzan. Since I could only choose a few of my favorites, make sure you take the time to browse through his Flickr set here.
Do you think you could compete in something like the Concurs de Castells? I feel like there would be an awful lot of accidental-on-purpose groping and squished fingers, but goddamn the view from the top of one of these human towers would be incredible…if maybe a little wobbly.
