Combining motherhood and the extra gamma: Marta Bayó's return with the Castellers de Vilafranca

Vilafranca del PenedèsPregnancy and motherhood represent an inevitable pause for castellers, but the real challenge often comes later. Regaining physical fitness, reorganizing family schedules, managing breastfeeding, or overcoming the feeling of missing important moments of childhood are, like in any job, some of the obstacles that appear on the way back to the square. A reality shared by many women in the casteller world and which, often, goes unnoticed behind great collective achievements.

Despite the difficulties, there is a factor that pushes many castelleres to return: passion. For those who live castells intensely, distancing themselves is not easy. Castells are part of the routine, friendships, and, in many cases, identity itself. "Castells hook you," the castellers themselves often summarize. And it is precisely this emotional bond that explains why many women, after becoming mothers, seek a way to continue being part of the group despite the new difficulties.

More than twenty years wearing the green shirt

More than twenty years wearing the green shirt

Marta entered the casteller world almost without looking for it. She was only six years old when, in 2000, a workshop in Sant Martí Sarroca changed her path. “We weren’t supposed to go to the workshop, but the castells were in front of us, we got dressed and approached them,” she recalls. That first experience led her to the Castellers de Vilafranca, the group where she grew up, learned, and lived her entire career. “Since then, I have never left the castells,” she explains. Over time, that activity became a way of life. “I have adapted my life to the castells,” she summarizes naturally.

For more than two decades, her presence at rehearsals and squares has been constant. Castells have occupied weekends, parties, and key moments of her adult life. But they have also been a network and a sense of belonging difficult to find elsewhere.

In 2024, however, life presented her with an important decision. With her partner, Adrià, they had been talking for a while about taking the step to become parents. There was no ideal time. “It’s never a good time,” she admits. The casteller calendar is always full of objectives, challenges, and decisive seasons. That year, moreover, Marta was living a special moment: the group was reconsidering the pd9fmp and she was part of it. Stepping aside, however, is never easy. The decision was gradually maturing between the excitement of the family project and the difficulty of moving away from what had been the center of her life.

The 2025 season began with this uncertainty. Marta spoke with the group leader to explain the situation, with the idea of continuing as long as her body and the moment allowed. She performed the first shows, even completing a pillar of six. And shortly after, the news arrived: she was pregnant.

Conflicting emotions

That moment changed everything, but not abruptly. She remained connected to the group, attending rehearsals and helping from the ground, especially with the children. “I didn’t want to stay home without building castells, without knowing when I would return,” she explains. But experiencing it from a different position opened up a completely new perspective for her. For the first time, she observed the constructions without being directly part of them. And this generated conflicting emotions in her: pride, longing, and, at times, a certain distance that was difficult to accept on important days.

There were particularly sensitive moments, like seeing certain castells or pilars from the ground. “It was a bit difficult for me,” she admits. But there was also a clear feeling: the castells were still within her, even though the way she experienced them had changed. During her pregnancy, Marta also promised herself that she would not close the door on her castellera career. For a while, she had thought that, after becoming a mother, she might not climb again. But reality proved her wrong. “I’m still hooked,” she acknowledges.

A lot of work behind it

The return has not been easy or immediate. Physical recovery has required constant work: pelvic floor, abdominal belt, physiotherapy, and adapted exercises. She has also incorporated routines from home and sought out spaces, like climbing, to stay active. Added to all this is breastfeeding and the daily logistics of a baby only six months old. But if there is one difficulty that weighs more than the rest, it is not physical. "The thing I find hardest is guilt," she confesses. The feeling of missing out on moments with her son appears especially during performances, when the hours away from home become long and intense. Nevertheless, she also explains that her son has adapted well and that her partner's support has been fundamental for her to continue.

Download an extra range again

Her return to the square with an extra-gamma tower took place last week in El Vendrell. That day, she assures, was different from all the previous ones. There was no pressure, only desire. "I was really looking forward to coming back," she says. And this time, the towers were experienced with a new calm, almost unknown to her. "I enjoyed it a lot. I had missed it very much."

Over time, Marta has even found an unexpected parallel between motherhood and human towers. Her son's growth, the constant novelties, and the small achievements remind her, in a way, of what happens in the square. “There are always new challenges,” she reflects.

Today she tries to sustain these two essential parts of her life: motherhood and human towers. She no longer experiences it with the demands of before, but from the balance she has seen is possible. She knows she won't always be able to achieve everything, but also that she doesn't want to give up on anything completely. “Human towers have been my life,” she says. And despite the changes, they continue to be so in a way. Because in her case, as in that of many other female tower builders, it's not just about going up or not going up again. It's about something harder to explain: the impossibility of moving away from everything that has been part of an entire life.

Her story reflects an increasingly visible reality in the world of human towers: that of women trying to combine motherhood and their group, amidst renunciations, adaptations, and essential support. A path that is not easy, but which also shows the strength of a bond that, like good human towers, is very difficult to undo.