Saint Michael Square

Plaza Sant Miquel, more than a square, is a crossroads for the labyrinthine streets of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. From there you can see mysterious passages, alleys and remains of the old wall. At one side you can see the Modern part of the town hall building and at the opposite end a monument to the Castellers.

The monument is titled Homenatge als Castellers, rises to the sky 30 meters high and was made by Antoni Llena in 2011. The statue is a tribute to the iconic human towers, which are a traditional feature of public events in Catalonia. In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Llena said that instead of creating a figurative representation, she was inspired by chicken wire and nets that are sometimes used to wrap bottles. Each of the X-shaped sections of chicken wire represents a person. The tower is made up of six layers, each of which becomes smaller and smaller. This reflects the fact that in real human towers the lower layers are made up of men, the middle layers of women and teenagers, and the upper levels of children. The unjoined tubes at the top of the sculpture recall the outstretched arm of the enxaneta or little child that tops the tower.

The Castellers originated about two hundred years ago, in a competition in Tarragona to see which group could build the tallest human tower. Since then, they have been traditionally carried out every spring and in 2011 these unique human towers were declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The square was previously used for parking cars, but is now used as a social space, with numerous restaurants and places to eat.