When dreams stop being promises: El Serrallo touches the sky with the two basic eights

There are moments that a group waits for years. And there are those who wait for generations. Los Xiquets del Serrallo have had to wait 38 years to write this page. Thirty-eight years of journey, of rehearsals, of falls, of getting back up and of pursuing a goal that for a long time always seemed a little further away. But one day it arrives. And when it arrives, everything makes sense.

The festival of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 2026 will be forever etched in the memory of Los Xiquets del Serrallo. Those from the fishing district completed the best performance of their history after unloading the 3d8, the 4d8, and the 5d7. A festival that confirmed what for decades had been a dream: El Serrallo is now a group of eight. In every sense of the word.

To understand the dimension of what happened that day, we must look back. Far back. Specifically, in 1996. That Sant Magí, the Xiquets del Serrallo managed to load a 4d8 for the first time. It was a major milestone for a team that was beginning to stand toe-to-toe with the great structures, but that castle left an open wound. For three decades, that big load was a thorn in their side. An unfinished business. Now, however, it has been resolved. And by triple, since weeks before they unloaded it for Sant Pere, also at home, and this Saturday they have done it again in La Riera de Gaià.

«When we unloaded it for Sant Pere, I couldn't believe it. It was a spectacular sensation and it transported me to 1996», recalls Christian Borràs, one of the seconds of that first 4d8 loaded thirty years ago. This time, however, the story had a different ending. And it also had a new generation ready to continue it. His sons, Arnau and Roger, were on the thirds floor. His nephew Aleix Gaya was also part of the trunk and his niece Marina was climbing to the fifths. «It was brutal. I was very moved to see them there. When the gralles finished, I hugged Gaya», explains Borràs.

That hug was from a generation that had waited many years to see that moment. «All the old ones hugged each other. We were liberated», he assures. For Borràs, that day meant closing a circle.

This one, however, was not only closed by those who were in the square that day. Those who, thirty years before, had opened the way could also see it fulfilled.

Jordi Mallol, one of the basses of the first 4d8 loaded in the history of the Xiquets del Serrallo in 1996, lived that unloading as a kind of reparation of time. That tower, which for decades had been a pending milestone, ceased to be a thorn in the side and became, now, a legacy. He still perfectly remembers that first attempt that reached the top thirty years ago. «I remember that the team leader summoned us to his house for the trunk and the technique, and there we decided that for Sant Magí we would do the 4d8», he explains. That day, the silence of the square before the top and the subsequent explosion when the tower was loaded are still part of his memory. «Once loaded, an expanding wave came from the stairs towards us. It was brutal.»

Thirty years later, however, the story had an ending that that generation had dreamed of many times. «Finally, we unloaded it, it was about time!» But beyond the tower, what moved him most was seeing that that dream had passed into the hands of a new generation. «Seeing the young people doing it, seeing that the team is still alive and that all that effort has had continuity is an enormous satisfaction.»

A milestone built on constancy

The path to here has not been easy at all. Behind the eight-story castles there have been many hours of rehearsal, many decisions, doubts, and moments when it seemed that the definitive step was still far away. "When you've been working hard for so many years and trying to achieve what we've achieved this year... words are not enough," explains the leader of the Xiquets del Serrallo, Josep Maria Gaya.

"There have been moments of thinking that perhaps it wouldn't work out, that it was very complicated to go up another floor. But after so much work behind it, it has finally paid off." The key has been a profound transformation of the group: more people, more confidence, and a new way of understanding rehearsals. "We are more than 100 people at rehearsals and that makes a difference. Being a neighborhood group and bringing so many people together is complicated, but we are achieving it," assures Gaya. For her part, the president of the Xiquets del Serrallo, Núri Bordas, assures that "the incorporation of young people, especially from university groups like the Pataquers de la URV, has been essential because they have brought a lot of ambition." She is convinced that "having broken this ceiling gives confidence, strengthens the project, and changes the way we see ourselves."

But in moments like this, it's impossible not to look back and remember those who were part of the journey. "You remember all the people who tried and are no longer with us today. It would have been nice if they could have seen it." That's why, when they talk about dedications, the answer is clear: these castles are also theirs.

Generational change without losing the essence

Those who are no longer here coexist, in a way, with those who today wear the navy blue shirt. Because castells are also that: a history passed down from generation to generation. The veterans leave their experience and perseverance there. The younger ones pick up this legacy and push it a little further. In El Serrallo, this transition is not just explained. It is seen. Because, although the veterans are still there, it is now the younger ones who occupy many of the decisive positions. And it is not a replacement. It is a transition. One of those that is only possible when one generation has been able to prepare the next. And in El Serrallo, this has been done.

Furthermore, in this small neighborhood of Tarragona, many stories are passed down from fathers to sons. Rehearsal afternoons, major festivals, and castells are part of the family life of many homes. And for Sant Pere and Mare de Déu del Carme, when the group touched the sky, many of these families saw years, and even decades, of dedication rewarded.

One of the most emotional images of Sant Pere's festival was staged by Josep Maria Gaya and his son Aleix. The former experienced the castell from the ground, singing it as the group leader. The latter was on the third level of the first 4d8 unloaded castell in the history of the Xiquets del Serrallo. In the middle of the castell, Aleix lowered his head for just a moment. "I saw my father singing the castell with teary eyes. It was incredible." For him, that moment went far beyond completing an eight-story structure. "Many things come to mind. Above all, you remember all the people who have sweated it out and who, unfortunately, could not enjoy it because they are no longer here."

From the third level, he knew the responsibility was enormous. "You are the final validation," he explains. "You have to try to ensure everything is the right size and convey confidence to your teammates." But he was also aware that his role symbolized something more: a new generation that was already supporting the most important castells in the group's history. "The group has changed in the last three years. Not so much on a technical level, but in the ways of doing things. There has been a change of mindset." A new way of understanding the project that, he assures, has come to stay.

Pau Mallol is another of the faces of this relay. He joined Xiquets del Serrallo in 2018 and, in just a few years, has gone from seeing the eight-level tower as a distant goal to being part of the first successfully completed ones in the group's history. The confidence, he recalls, arrived before the Sant Pere festival. "On Friday, at rehearsal, I looked at people's faces, the conviction of the trunk and the pinya. I noticed that Saturday was the day."

As the tower began to rise, nerves gave way to serenity. "At first there was uncertainty, but you saw that nothing was happening that hadn't happened in rehearsal. I experienced it calmly, conveying confidence." When it was all over, he didn't seek the spotlight either. He looked for his family. "I went to hug my mother first, then my twin sister, my older sister, and finally my father. It was a magical moment."

He is aware that his generation has had the privilege of fulfilling a dream pursued for decades. That's why, when asked what has made it possible to reach this point, he doesn't just talk about those who wear the navy blue shirt today. "It has been possible thanks to all the people who have always believed in it, to those who are no longer here, to those who came, to those who come, and to those who will come."

Perhaps this is the great strength of Xiquets del Serrallo: that the towers are passed down from father to son. And each generation adds one more stone until, one day, what seemed impossible becomes a reality.

Paving the way

This generational change is not only explained by the surnames that have passed from one generation to another. It is also explained by a new way of understanding the group. A more open view that has been breaking down barriers and demonstrating that, in castells, the place is not occupied by whoever has always been there, but by whoever is prepared to take it on. Amidst the milestone of the eight-level castells, there is also an image that symbolizes this change. La France occupies one of the most demanding positions in the castell: she is a "baixa" (lower position), a place that has historically been almost always reserved for men. For her, that moment was not just a personal milestone. It was the culmination of a journey and the confirmation that the trust placed by the technique had been worth it.

When the 4d8 of Sant Pere came down, however, she doesn't remember exactly what she was thinking. She only remembers the tears. "I cried with happiness."

Among all the congratulations, there was one that still moves her especially today. Jordi Mallol, one of the protagonists of that first loaded 4d8 in 1996, approached her to say a phrase she will hardly forget: "I'm glad you did it." That's why she hopes her image will also serve to pave the way. "It's a pride and an honor. I hope it serves as a reference." And she already imagines a different future. "My dream would be to see a castell where all the "baixes" were women. It's not crazy."

Perhaps this is one of the great changes that El Serrallo has experienced in recent years: a group that has grown without forgetting where it came from, but which has also known how to question some inertia and trust in a new generation of castelleres and castellers willing to demonstrate that limits, often, only exist until someone breaks them.

At her home, La France keeps a book from the Xiquets del Serrallo with a phrase that has always accompanied her: "One must know things before starting to love them." She, however, smiles when she remembers it. "I started to love the group before I knew it."

A castell for everyone

When talking about a human tower, people almost always look towards the trunk, the base, or the top figure. But there is another essential piece that often goes unnoticed: the grallers. They are the soundtrack of the towers, the ones who set the rhythm, announce each step, and make the whole square vibrate. Without them, the emotion wouldn't be the same.

In a historic festival like the one Serrallo experienced, the grallers also lived the milestone with a mix of concentration and emotion. Gio explains that, while playing, he wasn't yet aware of the magnitude of what they were achieving: "While we were building the tower, I was so focused that I wasn't aware of the moment." Only when they finished playing could he process what they had just done. "That's when I became aware of what had happened, and it was very emotional. I'm still feeling the after-effects," he recalls.

For him, however, the value of the day went much further. "It's impressive for the towers, for what it means, for having done it at home, for having done it so early, and for the way we did it." That's why he's clear who he would dedicate those gralla tunes to: "I would dedicate these tunes to the team. Thirty years after the first loaded 4d8, justice has been served. We have freed ourselves. We can say that we are a team of eight with all the letters."

Whatever the case, Serrallo now knows what glory tastes like. Now it's time to keep growing and writing the next pages of a story that has just opened one of its most brilliant chapters.