Strength, balance, courage and common sense, the four key concepts of human tower building, repeated like a mantra by its practitioners. For spectators, the most appropriate words might be thrills, nerves, suspense and joy. Without a doubt, to experience a human tower building event is to navigate a sea of sensations. So it’s no wonder that UNESCO inscribed this Catalan tradition par excellence on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
If you’re the sort of person who enjoys combining cultural visits in cities with nature excursions, here are four of the routes favoured by Barcelona locals, who also like to get away from it all and enjoy the outdoors, especially when these beauty spots are so close to home. These routes offer something for everyone and, like almost every other route in the country, can be enjoyed all year round.
When the good weather arrives, the beach is one of the tourist attractions that everyone likes, especially families with children, since the huge variety of seaside activities on offer guarantee hours of playtime, physical exercise and entertainment. What's more, on the Costa Barcelona there are six towns that hold the Family Holiday Destination seal, which means they're particularly attentive to children's needs. Would you like to know which ones they are?
Very close to Barcelona you will find a great many examples of modernista works created between the 19th and 20th centuries. Urban palaces and holiday homes, churches and hospitals, warehouses and gardens, factories and cellars, all with the signature of the great architects of the movement in Catalonia: Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, among others. To commemorate this cultural trend, different towns and cities are organizing festivals and fairs to recover their aesthetic quality. Want to find out more about them?
Barcelona is the land of wines. More than 2,500 years ago, the Romans and Iberians cultivated vines to produce the favourite drink of the gods, a drink that has shaped the landscape and culture of the regions of Barcelona. Just a stone’s throw from the city, you can enjoy three DO (Designation of Origin) wine areas that offer such a wide range of activities and experiences that you’ll want to keep coming back to try them all.
If you think you need to travel beyond the regions of Barcelona to enjoy ancient and meaningful cultural spectacles, then you haven’t experienced the atmosphere of human tower-building performance from the front row, you haven’t leapt up and down during the Patum festivities in Plaça de Sant Pere in Berga, and you haven’t seen the night-time descent of the falles (torches) in Berguedà. If you had, you’d understand why UNESCO has included these essential ancient traditions in its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and, above all, you’d make a date in your diary to make sure you don’t miss them!
If you have a curious mind and are looking for a family-friendly activity, then plan a day trip to the colònies tèxtils (textile model villages) of the regions of Barcelona. Built between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, they’re still full of working machines, fabrics you’re allowed to touch and plenty of amazing stories. Ready to journey into the past?
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