The Xiquets de Tarragona are again a 9-person group, El Serrallo makes history and the Jove consolidates the 2d9fm in Torredembarra

Extra-range recital and return of the mattresses to the nine floors

The Plaça del Pou in Altafulla has once again become the epicenter of the casteller world with a top-level Diada de les Cultures, marked by the second major head-to-head of the season between the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls and the Castellers de Vilafranca, as well as the return of the Xiquets de Tarragona to nine-story towers. On a day commemorating the 25th anniversary of the festival, the four participating groups offered a high-voltage performance that confirms the excellent moment the casteller world is experiencing at the start of summer.

The heat gave a break compared to previous days, but the intensity in the square was maintained from start to finish. Expectations were at their peak for a new duel between the two groups currently leading the extra-category towers, and neither disappointed. Both Castellers de Vilafranca and Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls completed almost identical performances, demonstrating extraordinary mastery of the large structures and sending a clear message for the most demanding events of the season.

Els Castellers de Vilafranca have opened the first round with the first 9d8 of the year. A construction that has required a great exercise of resistance, as the three wings have been completed with a single enxaneta, notably lengthening the duration of the execution. The response from Colla Vella has not been long in coming. The rosats have unloaded a well-defended 5d9f, consolidating one of the structures they best master at the start of this season and resolving it with their usual serenity.

The second round has once again offered a true duel between the two groups. Both Vilafranca and Valls have unloaded the 4d9fp, one of the most technical constructions in the current casteller scene, unleashing the ovation of an enraptured Plaça del Pou. In the third round, the greens have dismantled the chained tower of nine and have opted for the 3d9f, the same construction that Colla Vella has also completed with authority. Both groups continue to expand their repertoire of guarantees before facing the great challenges of the coming weeks.

The finale arrived with a spectacular round of pillars. Both Colla Vella and Castellers de Vilafranca have unloaded the pd8fm, culminating two practically identical performances.

Beyond the clash between greens and pinks, the day also brought news especially celebrated by the Xiquets de Tarragona. The 'matalassers' have recovered their nine-story 'castells' by completing the 4d9f, the thirtieth in their history and the first they have managed to finish since Sant Magí in 2024. The festival had started with a solid 7d8, which already hinted at the group's good feelings.

The path to the castle of nine, however, has not been without difficulties. In a first attempt at 4d9f, the construction climbed too slowly and with some evident doubts in the structure, which led the group to dismantle it with good judgment. Far from affecting them, the Tarragona team knew how to recover, corrected the necessary details, and faced the second attempt with a completely different mentality. This time, the 4d9f showed itself to be much more secure from start to finish and certified the return of the striped shirt team to the elite of the nine floors. The Xiquets closed their performance with a 3d8 that rounded off a particularly significant day and reinforces the good feelings of a team that faces July with the aim of continuing to expand its range of constructions.

The hosts, the Castellers d'Altafulla, also had a leading role in a very special edition of the Diada de les Cultures. The local group reliably completed the 3d7 and 4d7 before tackling the first 4d7p of the season. The main structure was resolved without complications, but the inner pillar ended up giving way when the enxaneta was already starting the descent, leaving the tower only charged. Despite this outcome, the Altafulla team contributed to the success of a day that, coinciding with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the diada, will be marked by the high level of casteller performance offered in Plaça del Pou.

El Serrallo makes history at home

The Xiquets del Serrallo continue to write outstanding pages in their history with a start to the season that continues to exceed expectations. The Diada de la Mare de Déu del Carme has served for the Tarragona group to confirm the great moment they are experiencing by completing, for the first time, the 3d8. The construction, which until now they had only loaded once, for Sant Magí last year, has been the cherry on top of a performance that also included the 4d8 and the 5d7, thus becoming the best festival in the history of those from the fishing district.

The evolution of the Serrallo castellers has been constant since the beginning of the season. After a start marked by the consolidation of the 2d7 as one of their reference castles, the group took a giant step just two weeks ago with the first completed 4d8 in their history. Far from settling for that achievement, those with the navy blue shirt have continued to work with the same ambition and have once again shown that the ceiling is still far away. In the square, the Serrallo castellers have competently repeated the 4d8, confirming that the 'carro gros' is no longer an exceptional construction, but a castle that is beginning to consolidate itself within their repertoire. But the great objective of the day came later. The 3d8, which a year ago had only been loaded, was presented this time with more confidence and a much more mature structure. The castle withstood the inherent difficulties of the eight floors and was able to be completed amidst an explosion of shared joy between castellers and fans. The festival was completed with the 5d7, which rounded off a top-level performance for the Serrallo castellers. Beyond the castles achieved, the feeling is that the group is living one of the best moments of its career, the result of sustained work in rehearsals and growth that becomes evident performance after performance.

Next to them, the Bordegassos de Vilanova once again demonstrated the consistency they are exhibiting this season. They completed the 3d8 and 4d8 with great solvency, confirming for the third performance this season the two basic eight-level castles. The group showed good stability in both structures, evidencing that they are now part of their usual repertoire. They rounded off the day with a 5d7 that hints at the group's potential to tackle more difficult constructions in the coming weeks.

The Jove de Sitges also emerged strengthened from the day, as they discharged the second 4d8 of the season, thus consolidating the renovation they have carried out on several levels of the castle. Despite some important absences, the Sitges team maintained their planned roadmap and also completed the first 3d7 from below of the year and a 5d7 that closed a very complete performance.

Finally, the Castellers de Lleida, for their part, completed a performance consisting of the 2d7, the 4d8, and the 4d7a, a construction that continues to be a key piece in the preparation for future objectives. The group also attempted the pd6, which remained charged after yielding in the final stretch of the descent. Nevertheless, the Lleida team continues to accumulate experience with a structure that they trust to consolidate during this season.

The Jove from Tarragona scores a new 2de9fm in the Quadre

The Santa Rosalia Painting Festival in Torredembarra has left one of the most outstanding human tower images of the weekend with the second 2d9fm of the season for the Colla Jove Xiquets de Tarragona. The event, however, could not be completed normally after the fall of the 4d9f by the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls, an unforeseen event that forced the performance to be interrupted for about an hour and which, finally, led to its suspension as the square was left without the medically equipped ambulances required by protocol. A minor was transferred to Valls Hospital for a contusion and was discharged shortly after.

Before the break, the Plaça de la Vila had experienced a high-level performance. The Colla Jove Xiquets de Tarragona turned the chained tower into the main protagonist of the afternoon. The purples authoritatively unloaded their second 2d9fm of the year, confirming that the human tower is already part of their usual repertoire well before the decisive stage of the season. In addition to the technical value of the human tower, the construction also had a symbolic component. This is the first human tower with manilles (chains) ever unloaded in Torredembarra, a feat that enhances the historical record of the square and reinforces the Tarragona group's desire to gain experience with the highest difficulty structures before facing even more ambitious objectives such as the 10-level human towers. The suspension of the festival, however, prevented the Cós del Bou team from completing the planned program, which was to include the two basic nine-level human towers and the pd7f.

For their part, the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls had also started the performance with good sensations. The Valls team opened with a hard-fought 3d9f, which they managed to defend despite some difficulties in the exit of the dosos. In the second round, they opted for the 4d9f, a construction that seemed well on its way until after the alèta. As the children were leaving, the structure lost stability on the upper floors and ended up collapsing. The fall activated the sanitary device and two of the three medicalized ambulances present in the square had to abandon the performance to carry out the corresponding transfers. Without the minimum sanitary resources required to continue raising castles of eight or more floors, the event was stopped for almost an hour. Given the impossibility of recovering the device, the organizers opted to end the performance.

The only ones who managed to complete the three planned castles were the Nois de la Torre. The hosts began by unloading the 7d7 and immediately afterwards, they successfully tackled the first 2d7 of the season, a structure that continues to demand a lot of work, but which the group managed to master until it was unloaded. The 5d7 served to close one of the best performances by the Torrenc team at the Quadre de Santa Rosalia.

A new magical trio of the Borinots

The Castellers de Sants have bid farewell to the first part of the season in the best possible way. In their Summer Day, the 'borinots' (a nickname for the group) confidently completed the magic triplet, confirming the great form the group is in before the summer break. After a very consistent start to the year, during which they have already unloaded several nine-level castles and recovered structures of maximum demand, the Barcelona-based group faces the second half of the season with their sights set on returning to extra-level castles.

The festival also featured an unusual construction by Castellers d'Esplugues, who completed the 4d7 from below after having finished the 3d7 from below. The Esplugues team rounded off their performance with the 5d7, demonstrating their strong command of these types of structures.

Finally, Capgrossos de Mataró, also present at the event, completed the classic eight and had a perfect weekend, debuting the 7d8 in Premià de Mar, another step in their preparation for the Festa Major of Les Santes. For their part, Castellers de Badalona completed the 5d7, although they could not manage the 3d7a, which they had to dismantle on two occasions.

Gràcia leads a great festival in Vic

The Vic Major Festival has once again brought together three groups in good form and has delivered a high-level performance, with Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia as the main protagonists. The Gràcia team exhibited an ambitious repertoire, led by the sixth 8-story tower with a base they have completed this season, a construction that continues to consolidate itself as one of their great assets. The Barcelona group also tackled the 4d8a, which was loaded after the inner pillar gave way during the descent, when the enxaneta had already begun the descent. Despite this outcome, the Gràcia team's plans were not altered and they completed the performance by unloading the pd6, closing a new festival that confirms their upward trajectory.

For their part, the Marrecs de Salt also signed a very complete performance. They unloaded three eight-story castles, among which the second 7d8 of the season stood out, a further sign of the good moment the Girona group is experiencing in this part of the calendar.

Finally, the Sagals d'Osona completed the classic eight, leaving behind the difficulties that had marked the beginning of the course. After having premiered the basic eight-story castles by loading them, the Osona group has managed to consolidate these structures and continues to regain sensations with an eye on the challenges of the second half of the season such as the 2d8f or the 7d8.

A perfect day in Esparreguera

The Esparreguera square has experienced a special day with a performance marked by the good harmony between two groups with a history of parallel paths. The Moixiganguers of Igualada have returned to perform in the town after several years of absence and have done so with a display of confidence, while the Castellers of Esparreguera have achieved the best performance in their history in terms of score.

The people from Igualada arrived in Esparreguera with the objective of continuing to work on high-difficulty towers and faced a tower of 8 with a base layer that also served as a testbed for future challenges. The 2d8f was presented with a lighter base layer than usual, a configuration that allows the group to advance in the preparation of higher structures such as the 2d9fm. Finally, they completed a performance also consisting of the 3d8 and the 4d8, leaving the 5d8 aside.

The locals have been the great protagonists of the day. Those with the sky-blue shirt completed a historic performance with the 3d7 from below, the 5d7, and the 7d7, a triplet that places them in the best record of their career. The 7d7, moreover, has been the first they have completed this year after having debuted it for the first time last year.

Els Xicots shine in La Granada with their best performance

La Granada del Penedès has once again been the scene of a special day for the Xicots de Vilafranca, a venue very linked to the group's career and where they arrive each year with the desire to show their best repertoire. This year, those from Vilafranca have put all their energy into it and have responded with a performance that reflects the good moment they are going through. The Xicots have completed the 4d8, the 5d7, and the 7d7, three constructions that represent the group's current ceiling.

At the same festival, the Colla Castellera de Sant Pere i Sant Pau has confirmed the great form they are in with a complete performance. The Tarragona team have completed the classic 8 and added the pd6, demonstrating consistency and ambition at this stage of the season.

Finally, the Xiquets de Reus had the 2d7 as the most notable construction of their performance. They accompanied it with the 5d7 and the 4d7a.