The 28th Concurs de Castells de Tarragona is now over after a Sunday event that has left us with an exciting clash between the Castellers de Vilafranca and Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls, finally won by the 'colla' from the Penedès.
The 'colla' from Vilafranca ─nicknamed the “Verds” (greens) due to the green colour of their shirts─ started completing an early 3de10fm. In the second round, they made an attempt at the 4de10fm, and they continued their performance by completing the 5de9f. The “Verds” ended the performance by crowning the 4de9sf, the castell that ended up bringing the 28th Concurs de Castells home for them, with a total of 8.485 points. The President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Pere Aragonès, presented the prize to the winners.
The 'cap de colla', or leader, of Castellers de Vilafranca, Francesc Benet, was happy to win, although he said he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the performance of his 'colla'. However, Benet values very positively the level shown by the three 'colles' that occupied the final podium.
On the other hand, the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls started their performance by completing the 4de9sf. After an unsuccessful attempt at 2de8sf, the red-shirt 'colla' made up for it shortly afterwards by being able to complete the known as “untameable beast”, the 2de8sf. The Joves ended the performance by crowning the 5de9f. The Colla Joves added a total of 8.050 points.
The 'cap de colla' of the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls, Pere Rico, considered that "all the 'colles' have worked very hard" and that "their hard work was perfectly demonstrated today". However, Rico admitted that, despite the good performance of the red-shirt 'colla', "we still have work to do".
In third place, the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls did not have the competition they expected. Despite crowning a 2de8sf in the first round, those from Portal Nou in Valls also made an attempt at the 4de9sf. The 3de9f and the 4de9f were the 'castells' with which the Colla Vella ended their performance. The Vella added 5.755 points.
The 'cap de colla' of the pink-shirt 'colla', Albert Martínez, assured that "the 4de9sf has taken its toll on us". However, he considers that the 'casteller' world "has won" after two years of pandemic and four without Concurs de Castells.
The Conseller de Cultura i Festes of Ajuntament de Tarragona, Inés Solé, thanked the participation of the 41 'colles' in the Concurs de Castells, and assured that without them "it would not be possible to make the world's largest 'castells' event".
Furthermore, the Directora Castellera del Concurs de Castells, Ester Roca, considered that the three days of the competition "have exceeded all our expectations". In this sense, Roca thinks that "there has been proper competition and proper excitement".
In turn, the Director del Concurs de Castells, Xavier Gonzàlez, stated that this year marks the 90th anniversary of the first contest, and that "for us, this event is a matter of pride". Gonzàlez believes that "the TAP is the plaza of all the 'colles castelleres'".
Finally, the mayor of Tarragona, Pau Ricomà, emphasized that the Concurs de Castells "is the element of popular culture with the most impact in the country". Ricomà remarked that "this contest is possible because the 'colles castelleres' have an immense social support".
The event lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes. In total, 47 'castells' have been built, 12 of which of the 'gamma extra', those with the maximum level of difficulty.
The medical services handled 71 people and made a total of 13 referrals.
As for the Concurs de Grups de Grallers, Xiquets de Tarragona won the competition, followed by the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls and the Xiquets de Reus. The mayor of Tarragona, Pau Ricomà, presented the award to the winners.
The final ranking of the 28th Concurs de Castells
