What to do and see in Catalonia, Spain: The Best Cultural Events

Fancy a Spanish trip full of laughter? Non-stop giggles await at the Barcelona International Comedy Festival, otherwise known as FIC BCN. Billed as the world's first and only multilingual comedy festival, you'll need strong sides and facial muscles, as the laughs keep on coming. The festival shows off the likes of comic talents such as Seann Walsh, Marcel Lucont, and Dylan Moran — and you'll be joined by an international audience at hand-picked venues throughout the city. 

Afraid of heights? Well, as long as you don't have to join in — just watch instead! The Human Tower Competition takes place in Tarragona on even-numbered years in October. You can be one of 6,000 spectators, whose knees will go weak at the sight of the Concurs de Castells. Young kids, older folk, people of all shapes and sizes — but all very fit — act as a tightly-knit team to jump atop each other's shoulders and create a human tower. Epic heights are reached, with upwards of nine stories of human strength. The strongest men are at the bottom, the most nimble child perches on top — known as the 'enxaneta' — he or she raises four fingers when the pinnacle is reached (representing the Catalan flag). What started as a dance is today an amazing spectacle, which must be seen if you have the opportunity. This is one for the whole family.