30 years making a pyramid to touch the sky with your hand

ManacorThe group leader, Neus Barceló, asks for silence. The courtyard at 35 Nou Street in Manacor is packed. There is a rehearsal and only a few days left until one of the most important performances of the human tower season in Mallorca: the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Al·lots de Llevant. A test run of a human tower intended for the square is being performed, and everyone needs maximum concentration.

Little could that group of youngsters have imagined—who one day on an excursion to the Coll del Jou in 1995 returned to the town with the obsession of starting a human tower group in Manacor—that what seemed like a pipe dream would reach thirty years. The first rehearsals were at the Portocristo sports center. Some photocopies of a book about human towers were all the technique that group of enthusiasts had. “During the first rehearsals, we didn't even know how to climb, how to form a base, or how to do anything. We started by reading a guide to the world of human towers that said: ‘This is a crutch, this is a buttress, these are first hands, these are second ones, this is a base...’”, recalls the first president of the group, Antoni Puig, with amusement. Shortly after, the visit from the technical team of the Xiquets de Reus laid the foundations of the method.

The first performance was in 1996, they were moments when everything was yet to be done and everything was possible, and the same year that the Castellers de Mallorca also emerged. “From 1996 to 2005 we were young people who discovered and learned with eagerness and passion,” remembers Joan Llodrà, who was group leader for eight years. During that stage, the headquarters where the Al·lots rehearse was fixed up and many people came closer.

Between 2006 and 2018 came the “consolidation and the great milestones, with the maturity of the core group”. It was the moment when the group unloaded two of the best human towers of their trajectory: the 2d7 and the 4d8. Aina Bonet was 8 years old and made the 'pom de dalt' (top) of the two 4d8s that the greens have unloaded. “At the Tarragona Contest, Mariona Pedrals, who was acting as the climber, and I were very nervous. I don’t remember much about the moment of climbing, but I do remember the fin: the human tower didn’t move at all. At the Bassa, we were calmer and even up there Mariona chatted to us about the weather. My father acted as a base: he started the tower and I finished it; it was incredible,” she remembers with emotion.

But not everything is peaches and cream, and COVID-19 dealt a serious blow to an activity marked by a very high degree of physical contact. Rehearsals stopped and a very complicated stage began. “The pandemic caused a lot of damage because it changed the collective mood”. But from that critical moment, a committed generational change emerged, which arrives in 2026 with a significant revival: twenty new castellers in just half a season. Llodrà sees it as a sign of “good omens, but the work is now done little by little and not in a frantic way, like at the very beginning”. The Al·lots de Llevant have entered maturity.

A group that becomes family

One of the keys to the evolution and success of the group is that it has gradually become a space where people of different generations share space and a hobby. Lara Gelabert is the president of the Al·lots de Llevant. She joined hand-in-hand with her three-and-a-half-year-old son, whom his teacher, another long-time casteller, Maria Martí, suggested should go to a rehearsal. “We were absolutely hooked. I believe that everyone who comes gets hooked by the family that the group is.”

Building human towers and being part of a group is not just another activity, but a way of life. Friendships and romances have blossomed within it, from which children have also been born who today are part of the 'canalla' (children's group). Rosa Pasqual is an example of this: she joined at only nine years old, and by accompanying her to rehearsals, her father, mother, and brother eventually joined as well. Over the years, she also found a partner there and now participates with her daughters. "We have always experienced the group as a family activity. It is very good to have something in common that is not limited to the home space," she asserts.

For her, this intergenerational character is one of the great riches of the Al·lots de Llevant: "You can find everything from small children to the elderly there. A respect for elders is created, and you get to know other ways of living and functioning as a family. This coexistence is one of the best things."

Commitment, solidarity, and courage

The 'canalla' (children group) is a fundamental part of this whole mechanism. Pilar Barceló is the head of the 'canalla', she started doing 'castells' 29 years ago, when she was 8, and therefore, she has gone through many positions and experiences that she can now pass on to the little ones. “You try to accompany them in solidarity. More than teaching them how to climb, I especially try to work so that they feel part of the group and are happy within the collective”. One of the moments when everything makes sense, she explains, is when one of the children in the 'canalla' achieves a new milestone, all the others rejoice. The group acts, in this sense, as a catalyst for generosity and teamwork. Strength, balance, courage, and common sense is the quintessential 'casteller' motto. Perhaps trust and collective strength should be added. Making 'castells' is not just about climbing, it is also about holding from the base, forming a 'pinya' (human base).

The rehearsal ends and Pilar Barceló reveals to the group the promises the 'canalla' has made if the Al·lots manage to unload the 5d7 at the next 'diada' (event). The card passes from hand to hand amidst smiles and expectation. Now it will be necessary for the enthusiasm, perseverance, and commitment of the whole group to turn those purposes into reality. It will be seen in the square.