Marrecs de Salt

The group was founded in 1995, mainly influenced by a performance by Castellers de Terrassa and Castellers d'Esparreguera in Plaça del Vi, in Girona on the celebrations of Sant Narcís.^[6] Their first public appearance was on 5 January 1996 in Salt, where they crowned a pillar of 4 and completed a pillar of 4 raised.^[7] They got baptized on 14 April 1996 in Salt with Castellers de Terrassa and the disappeared Ganxets de Reus being their godparents.^[8] On this day Marrecs completed the 4 in 6 with wedge, crowned the 2 in 6 and completed the 3 in 6, while their godparents completed various towers of 7 levels.^[9]

In the first years of the group, their rehearsals took place in public buildings with other uses such as La Farga school or the local sports pavilion^[10] and the first year they used cafè de Can Pep as their gathering social club.^[8] The group got better quickly reaching basic structures of seven levels, but the 4 in 7 with wedge and the 5 in 7 were not reached until 1997, which was also the first year to perform in the walking pillar of the cathedral performance.^[11] In 1998 they moved to their premises in Coma-Cros and completed their first 3 in 7 raised. The 2 in 7 was completed in 1999, completing what was then considered the full range of seven level towers.

The first time they completed a tower of eight levels was in 2001 in plaça del Vi of Girona, where they completed the 4 in 8 and crowned the 3 in 8, so far being the only group that begins building towers of eight levels, building two in the same performance.^[12] In 2002, Marrecs and Castellers de Sabadell became godparents of Xerrics d'Olot.^[13] This year saw a crowned pillar of 6 and until 2006 they did not succeed completing their first 3 in 8. In 2007, during the town's festivities of Salt, it was the first time they completed the 3 in 8, the 4 in 8 and the 2 in 7 together in a single performance.

In 2011 the group moved to their current premises in Naus Guixeres which is also in Coma-Cros^[4] and in 2012 they built their first 2 in 8 with double base, which ended up being only crowned, together with completed 3 in 8 and 4 in 8, building three towers of eight levels together in the same performance for their first time.^[14] This performance was overtaken three times during 2013: completing the hat-trick (which in the field stands for the 3, the 4 and the 2 in 8 in the same performance) by completing for the first time the 2 in 8 with double base in July,^[15] summing up the crowned pillar of 6 at the beginning of October,^[16] and finally completing the pillar of 6 in the Diada de Sant Narcís, on 27 October.^[17] On 26 October 2014, also on the Sant Narcís, they crowned their first 5 in 8.^[18] Lately Marrecs have baptized some other groups of castellers that were recently created: in 2013 they baptized Esperxats de l'Estany having Castellers de Figueres as co-godparents^[19] and in 2014 they baptized Vailets de l'Empordà together with Minyons de Terrassa^[20] and Castellers de l'Alt Maresme together with Capgrossos de Mataró.^[21] There's another pending godson group: Minyons de Santa Cristina, to be co-godparented with Sagals d'Osona.^[22]

Marrecs have performed outside Catalunya in several occasions.

The following table displays the performances that have been historical milestones for the group:

The calendar Marrecs follow each year has five special highlights: two annual ones in Salt (Festa Major and Colles de l'Eix), two annual ones in Girona (Sant Narcís and the walking walking pillar of the cathedral) and the Human Tower Competition, held in Tarragona biannually every even year and to which they have attended seven times until 2014.^[37] The Festa Major performance in Salt falls at the end of July and it marks the end of the first stretch of the season. It is the most important performance held in Salt.^[5]

Colles de l'Eix is a brotherhood performance taking place each September and it always involves Marrecs with Tirallongues de Manresa, Castellers de Lleida and Sagals d'Osona performing alternatively in Salt, Manresa, Lleida and Vic, the respective home towns, which are united by the Eix transversal (Catalan for "cross axis") since this road was built in 1997. Starting on its very first edition back in 1999 in Manresa, it is a tradition to end the performance with a brotherhood 4 in 7, a tower build with a quarter of the base and one row of each of the participating groups, making with the different colors of the shirts (blue, striped blue, burgundy and orange), a colourful and unusual tower.^[38]

Diada de Sant Narcís is starred by Marrecs and Minyons de Terrassa since 1996, and since 2007 also by Capgrossos de Mataró. Apart from the fact that Marrecs have reached some of their best performances in this festivity, it is specially remarkable some of the milestones by Minyons de Terrassa, which in 1998 completed the first 4 in 9 with single base of the 20th century and their first pillar of 7 with double base^[39] and in 2008 their first pillar of 8 with triple base.^[40]

The walking pillar of the cathedral, usually takes place on 1 November, and it is celebrated since 1997 in the cathedral of Girona and it is different to any other performance because Marrecs build a tower in the base of the stairway, then they walk a pillar of 4 along the 90 steps and a last tower is built in front of the facade of the cathedral .^[11][41] In 2010, being the last performance of a bad season,^[42] the pillar collapsed and it had to be rebuilt just to walk a few steps left, surrounded by the applauses of the audience.^[43] The journalist, and member of the group, Ester Bertran^[44] released the video Ho portem dins (It is inside us in English), that soon became popular.^[45]

Marrecs have participated in seven editions of the biannual Tarragona Human Tower Competition. They became #18 in the 17th edition (1998), #7 in the 19th (2002), #13 in the 20th (2004), #11 in the 21st (2006), #12 in the 22nd (2008), #21 in the 24th (2012) and #16 in the 25th (2014).^[37] Their best performance was in 2014, but their best position happened in 2002, with a 7th position thanks to a 4 in 8, a 2 in 7 and an undone attempt of a 3 in 8 and an unprecedented pillar of 6 crowned.^[46]

The following table displays the towers made on each edition they have participated until 2014:

• Green = completed; yellow (c) = crowned; red (a) = attempt; red (ua) = undone attempt;

The best human tower ever built by Marrecs is the 5 in 8. They loaded this tower for the first time in their history on 26 October 2014 in the festivity of Diada de Sant Narcís in Girona^[18] The best seasons of the group are 2013 and 2014, in which they have established the 2 in 8 with double base, completed the pillar of 6 and crown their first 5 in 8. The following table displays every single milestone by Marrecs. It shows the date and town where each tower got completed, and if applicable, also the first date and town in where it got only crowned before.^[9]

Tower	Date	Performance	Town
2 in 8 with double base[15]	28 July 2013	Festa Major de Salt	Salt
5 in 8 (crowned)[18]	26 October 2014	Sant Narcís	Girona
2 in 8 with double base (crowned)[14]	28 October 2012	Sant Narcís	Girona
3 in 8[47]	29 October 2006	Sant Narcís	Girona
pillar of 6[17]	27 October 2013	Sant Narcís	Girona
4 in 8[12]	28 October 2001	Sant Narcís	Girona
3 in 8 (crowned)[12]	28 October 2001	Sant Narcís	Girona
2 in 7[39]	24 October 1999	Sant Narcís	Girona
pillar of 6 (crowned)[48]	6 October 2002	Human Towers Competition	Tarragona
9 in 7[49]	4 October 2014	Human Towers Competition	Tarragona
3 in 7 raised[50]	18 October 1998	Festivity of Castellers de Sants	Barcelona
7 in 7[51]	1 November 2012	Walking pillar of the cathedral	Girona
5 in 7[52]	29 June 1997	Festivity of Sant Pere	Figueres
4 in 7 with wedge[53]	9 November 1997	Castellers de l'Albera anniversary	La Jonquera
3 in 7 with wedge[54]	18 October 2009	Nyerros de la Plana anniversary	Manlleu
3 in 7[55]	27 October 1996	Sant Narcís	Girona
4 in 7[56]	28 September 1996	Festivity of Riudellots	Riudellots
pillar of 5 raised[57]	27 September 1998	Festivity of Riudellots	Riudellots
pillar of 5[58]	17 August 1996	Performance in Platja d'Aro	Platja d'Aro
pillar of 5 (crowned)[59]	28 July 1996	Festivity of Salt	Salt
9 in 6[60]	27 July 1997	Festivity of Salt	Salt
2 in 6[61]	31 May 1996	Festivity of the Sant Narcís neighbourhood	Girona
2 in 6 (crowned)[8]	14 April 1996	Baptism of Marrecs	Salt
3 in 6 raised[62]	24 August 1996	Festivity of Ripollet	Ripollet
5 in 6[63]	19 May 1996	Festivity of Vilablareix	Vilablareix
4 in 6 with wedge[64]	24 March 1996	Fira de l'embotit	Bescanó
3 in 6 with wedge[65]	11 May 2013	Temps de Flors opening	Girona
3 in 6[66]	23 March 1996	Performance for Tot oci	Girona
4 in 6[67]	3 March 1996	Calçotada marreca	Salt
pillar of 4 raised[7]	5 January 1996	Welcoming for the Three Wise Men	Salt
pillar of 4[7]	5 January 1996	Welcoming for the Three Wise Men	Salt

By 2014, Marrecs had completed 2783 towers and they had crowned 71. The following table displays all the towers that Marrecs have built each season, taken from the database of the Coordinadora de Colles Castelleres de Catalunya.^[9]

• Brackets display towers that were only crowned.
• The figure for pillars of 4 include walking and raised pillars.
• Towers without the base are not included.
• Green = completed; red = crowned; yellow = tower previously done but not repeated

The group is managed by two boards: the presidential board and the technical board. The current technical board has Aram Martí as the group leader, with four teams, for the trunk, the base, the extra base and the children. The presidential board has Sebastià Morató as the president, with vicepresident, secretary, treasurer and representatives for the musicians, communication, children, health and safety and welcoming committee.^[68]