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casteller tower is built according to a precise structure. At ground level, the pinya forms a dense base of people whose bodies support and stabilise the tower while helping cushion a potential fall. Above it rises the tronc, the main trunk of the structure. At the top, the smallest and lightest climbers form the pom de dalt, culminating in the enxaneta, who crowns the tower by reaching the summit and raising a hand.

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Choosing the right person for the highest position is about far more than size. The enxaneta is often between seven and eleven years old, but agility and physical condition are just as important. There is no strict upper age limit, either. The Al·lots de Llevant group includes castellers in their eighties, demonstrating that participation is not reserved for the young or particularly athletic. Most members are Mallorcans, but there is also a smaller, significant number from elsewhere in the world. What brings them together is less about where they come from than what they want to contribute.

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The clothing is practical as well as symbolic. The Al·lots de Llevant wear green shirts, white trousers and a black faixa, the long sash wrapped tightly around the waist. The faixa provides grip for climbers and support for the lower back. Children wear helmets when climbing. Rehearsals take place twice a week during the main season, which runs from February to November. Members practise the techniques required to build six- and seven-storey towers and, when conditions allow, the more demanding eight-storey structures. While certain positions require specific physical preparation, castells depend on more than athletic ability. Each person contributes different strengths and experience, and every role matters.

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The group’s highest achievement is the 4 de 8, an eight-storey human tower with four people across each level of its main trunk. In 2009, Al·lots de Llevant became the first group outside mainland Catalonia to load one. They completed it at Tarragona’s Concurs de Castells in 2016 and again in Manacor in 2017, achieving success on home ground.

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These were defining moments in the group’s history, but Gelabert’s most treasured memories are more personal. Among them are the first seven-storey tower she climbed, the first seven-storey castell after the pandemic, when she was unknowingly pregnant with her youngest child, and the occasion when she and her son shared a seven-storey structure. Such moments capture a different dimension of the tradition. Beyond the technical challenge of building a tower, castells create experiences that become part of the lives of those who take part.

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The Diada in Manacor offers a glimpse of how these shared experiences take shape. For Gelabert, the experience begins before the performance itself, in the anticipation and rituals that precede it. One of her favourite moments is arriving at the club with butterflies in her stomach. From there, the castellers make their way together towards Plaça de sa Bassa, accompanied by the music of gralles, traditional Catalan double-reed wind instruments and drums, while they move towards the square where the towers will rise.

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The trust within the group is what makes watching a live performance so captivating. The movement is both careful and urgent, a balance of technical precision and human vulnerability. The tower does not rise because one person is exceptionally strong, but because many people coordinate their movements and remain attentive to one another. There is risk, despite the safety precautions, and a fall can affect the group’s confidence. Gelabert acknowledges that rebuilding morale takes “patience and love”.