The proposal that revolutionizes the Castells Competition
A study proposes substantial changes to aspects such as the scoreboard, rounds and ticket distribution.
The Castells Competition is one of the showcases, if not the main one, for castles in the world. And at the same time, it is a source of recurring debate. The final word, however, rests with the Competition's organizers and advisory committee, which must decide before August 31st whether to implement these changes for the 2026 edition or postpone it for later.
Grouping Castells
The big stumbling block of the proposal is the scoring table. The big new feature here is the grouping of human towers of the same degree of difficulty into a unified scoreThus, for example, the 5 out of 7 and the 7 out of 7 would have the same score, as would the 3 and 4 out of 9 with lining, or the 10 and unlined castles.
This circumstance could lead to a tie in the final classification. most appropriate. "What we cannot forget is that the Competition is a competition," says its human tower director, Ester Roca, who believes there should be clear tie-breaking criteria.
The excessive length of the competition, especially the Sunday edition, is a source of debate. Last year it was over 7 hours. "We're trying fewer castells, and that may lead to fewer castells falling," explains Esteve. He also acknowledges that this circumstance may force groups to take no risks, although he states that "the competition is about who wins that day, not who gives the best performance of the year."
Other ideas that have been left out of the solo proposal. "This is controversial with security," considers "BK_SLT_LNA" of entries.
In the last edition, the website again experienced problems purchasing tickets for Sunday's edition, as had occurred in previous years. Thus, the proposal proposes a lottery system based on prior registration. The competition's human tower director admits that some changes are needed and that the proposed option is not considered unreasonable.
The study proposes other changes to the competition, such as reforming the advisory committee and the jury, establishing new prizes based on different criteria, or declaring it a Traditional Festival of National Interest.
The proposal is on the table for the organizers, who explain that some new features will be announced soon. It remains to be seen which ones make it. For now, the advisory committee that must decide on many of these changes has not yet met.
