Muixeranga d'Elx takes part in the 30th Concurs de Castells in Tarragona alongside Bordegassos de Vilanova and Conlloga de Castelló

On the weekend of 2–4 October, the Concurs de Castells took place at Tarraco Arena Plaza, the world's greatest castells event, with colles from all over Catalonia. The competition is spread over two days. Muixeranga d'Elx went to support Bordegassos de Vilanova, whose colla was backed by many people and groups, including Conlloga de Castelló, for a total of 532 people.

There were about 11 adults and 8 children. We stayed at a campsite in Tarragona and, as usual, we partied on Friday night — some with a hangover on Saturday morning, others fresh as a rose. Saturday started rainy and the weather got worse as the day went on, but that didn't stop us going to the competition. They made us beautiful t-shirts with the Muixeranga d'Elx logo next to Conlloga de Castelló's, clearly visible — our coat of arms has never had so much exposure! Wherever you looked, there was our emblem. We walked in like a national football team and were thrilled. We watched all the other colles arrive, and when the competition began we saw the first castells — huge and beautiful.

At the competition Bordegassos opened with a 3de8 that went up without problems; we were learning what it means to form a pinya with so many people, but happy with how it went. The second figure was a 2de8f: when the enxaneta raised her hand, almost at the same moment the tower fell — a huge scare, but everyone was fine and the castell counted as completed. The competition ended with a 4d8 that was performed successfully. Unfortunately we could not stay longer to get to know Bordegassos and Conlloga better, as AEMET had issued a weather alert for extreme rain and flood risk and we had to rush back to the campsite — though we did have time to give a figure to a bordegàs, which they presented at their local on the following Wednesday. All in all, it was an exceptional weekend and an experience we will surely not forget. Many thanks to those who welcomed us, to all the Bordegassos and especially to my cousin Julio, who made this possible. We will definitely do more exchanges with them! With people like these, we can build what we set out to do.