The first event of the 29th Concurs de Castells held in Torredembarra saw a victory from Nois de la Torre. The colla from Baix Gaià won again ─after their victory on the last edition (ex aequo, that time)─ to become the very first group to win twice in a row on this new format. This time, the so-called torrencs performed the 5de7a on the first round, partially completed the 2de7 on the second round ─something they hadn’t achieved for 39 years!─, followed by a 7de7 to then secure their victory with a 7de7a. Truly deserved win!
Second came Castellers de Castelldefels thanks to a 5de7 and 7de7, with a partially completed 4de8 after a first attempt. The so-called carro gros by the yellow colla, which was almost fully completed, also became the second ever 4de8 seen at the Torredembarra event of the Concurs de Castells, something only achieved by Castellers de Badalona in 2016. Great performance, Castelldefels!
Third position was highly disputed and was finally shared by 3 colles that achieved the same number of points. Colla Castellera de Figueres completed a 5de7 on the first round and, after two attempts at the 2de7, completed a 7de7 and 4de7a, the exact same performance achieved by Castellers de Sarrià. In fact, the carmesí colla completed both 5de7 and 7de7 for the second time in their history! Despite this, the colla from Barcelona tried to secure a 2de7 twice, which they had to abort very near completion. The 4de7a by Castellers de Sarrià ended their performance. On the other hand, Castellers de l’Alt Maresme i la Selva Marítima went straight to the chase, completing the 5de7, 4de7a and 7de7 on the first round of the event. Faultless performance!
Caps de colla from Nois de la Torre, Oriol Nin and Aina Recasens, congratulated the participating colles and specially Castellers de Castelldefels, after partially achieving the 4de8. The cocaps de colla said “all groups did a great job”. Nil Portolés, cap de colla of Castellers de Castelldefels, congratulated Nois de la Torre for the victory and shared the celebration to all the 'colles'. 'Cap de colla' of Colla Castellera de Figueres, Javier Alcuberre, said that, for them, “it is very special to attend the Torredembarra event”. Jordi Pujols and Eduard Llorens, cocaps de colla of Castellers de Sarrià, agreed with Alcuberre. On the other hand, Mercè Masferrer, 'cap de colla' of Colla Castellera de l’Alt Maresme i la Selva Marítima, was happy for the third position of the so-called maduixots and for being in Torredembarra and “achieving the best performance of the season”.
Prizes were handed by the Major of Torredembarra, Vale Pino, and the Consellera of the Tarragona Town Hall, Sandra Ramos, who attended the first event of the 29th Concurs de Castells and supported all 'colles' at all time.
Local Major stated that the first event was “full of excitement” and congratulated all participating 'colles'. “We all suffered to the very end”, said Pino. On the other hand, the Consellera de Cultura i Festes of the Tarragona Town Hall also congratulated the 'colles' and said that “the castells world is extraordinarily health”. Ramos prompted attendees to support the next two events of the Concurs de Castells due on the 5th and 6th of October at the Tarraco Arena Plaça.
Positive appraisal from the organisation
The Castells Director of the Concurs de Castells de Tarragona, Ester Roca, thanked all participating colles for “giving their best” and highlighted the performance by Castellers de Sarrià, which ended third on their very first Concurs. On the other hand, the Director of Concurs de Castells, Xavier González, said it is “truly amazing” to host the 3 events of the Concurs and thanked Torredembarra for “having believed in this event for 10 years”. González remind everyone that Concurs de Castells is the only competition divided into 3 events and with 42 participating 'colles'.
Also, it is important to highlight the 2 'colles' that attended Concurs de Castells for the first time: Castellers de Sarrià, with a commendable 3rd position, and Colla Castellera de l’Esquerra de l’Eixample. The former, achieved the second 5de7 and 7de7 in their history, while also trying the 2de7 twice, a castell that was almost completed but aborted on both occasions. On the other hand, the so-called esquerdats completed the 3de7 and 4de7, and the 4de7a as their last 'castell'.
Another of the most remarkable castells in this event was the 5de7 by Castellers de Caldes, which they completed 9 years after the last time.
As for injuries, a total of 38 medical interventions were done, with 2 people referred to hospital.
The best gralles, by Castellers d’Altafulla
As for the Concurs de Gralles, the jury decided to select a single group for the final. Castellers d’Altafulla will represent the event in Torredembarrra this year. The remaining finalists will be selected from the events due on Saturday and Sunday at TAP.
