Strength, balance, courage and common sense: the pillars of the human tower world

The human tower world is an activity that requires good physical and mental fitness. Both elements play a vital role in achieving the successes seen weekly in the squares. All of these aspects are captured in the motto of the human tower world: "Strength, balance, courage, and common sense."

The origin of the expression dates back more than 150 years to a song composed by Josep Anselm Clavé entitled The Children of Valls. In this song, the author included the following verses: "What a gatsara, what a delight / The young bulls cause in the town, / When they show off their skill, / Strength, balance, valor, and good sense!" This is how the four concepts that have become consolidated in the human tower motto are captured. The author also incorporated "expertise" as one of the elements, but this has been forgotten as it became part of another verse.

The motto confirms the need for physical and mental fitness to be a human tower builder. The first two (strength and balance) have more to do with the castellers' ability to support the weight of the castell and remain standing without losing their position. The other two qualities (courage and good sense) underline the importance of putting one's mind to it. On the one hand, it highlights the value of facing a castle and putting one's body to work to achieve success. On the other hand, common sense is another crucial element in having all the elements on the table to decide whether to demolish a castle or back down if it's not in the best condition.

Guimerà, Casals, and the human towers

The figure of Anselm Clavé is one of the different Catalan personalities who have given great value to the castells. Àngel Guimerà wrote the poem The enxaneta in which he wrote: "Up it goes! and turning their backs, / They all climb upwards; / Only the enxaneta is missing / That burns its restless mother / Estremilla with its sobs."

For his part, Pau Casals from Vendrell was a key figure in the creation of the Castells Competition in 1932. The musician was one of the ideologists and was president of the jury.

The slogans of the groups

Many groups, at the same time, have incorporated their own slogans that end up creating an identity. Some of them refer to the global nature of the entity. Thus, the Minyons of Terrassa use "We are the group," and the Castellers of Vilafranca have "We are the foot" (a name also given to the pineapple).

Another formula used is that of work and perseverance. Thus, we find the "Work of an ant, strength of an elephant" of the Castellers of Sants or the "Floor by floor, step by step" of the Capgrossos of Mataró.

On the other hand, some emphasize their belonging, such as the "Blessed madness" of the Castellers of Barcelona, ​​​​or the "Bordeaux pride" of the Castellers of Lleida.