Valls

Mention tourism in Valls and the conversation almost always circles back to the same thing: calçots. In winter, Plaça del Blat tends to smell of wood smoke from early morning. Beneath the bare lime trees in January, many locals step out wearing the checked apron and light shirt traditionally associated here with calçotadas. It is not a show staged for visitors. It forms part of an agricultural custom that took shape in the surrounding countryside a couple of centuries ago.

The calçot, a tender onion that is gradually earthed up so it grows long and white, eventually gave its name to a protected geographical indication linked directly to Valls and its area. That label ties the vegetable to this specific landscape and to the methods developed here. In Valls, calçots are less a trend than a marker of identity, returning each winter with a familiarity that goes beyond gastronomy.

Where the first castells rose

Plaça del Blat is small and slightly irregular, much like many medieval market squares. Grain was once traded here, which explains the name, and tradition places the origins of the casteller world in this very spot. At the beginning of the 19th century, there are already references to groups from Valls building multi-storey human towers during festivals and celebrations. The word castell, meaning castle, would become established later, yet the act itself was already part of local festivities.

For that reason, the square remains a point of reference for the city’s colles castelleres, the teams that construct these human towers. The two historic groups of Valls, Colla Vella and Colla Joves, still raise their castells here during the major diades of Sant Joan in June and Santa Úrsula. When rehearsals or performances take place, the square fills quickly. Neighbours lean in doorways. Children weave through the crowd. A pinya, the compact base that supports the tower, forms with little need for shouted instructions.

Castells can reach several storeys in height, built from layers of people standing on each other’s shoulders in a carefully balanced structure. The practice has spread widely across Catalonia, yet in Valls it carries the weight of origin stories and long-running rivalries. One debate surfaces again and again: whether Colla Vella or Colla Joves first completed certain castells. In Valls, that discussion has no clear end.

Sant Joan and the city skyline

Overlooking Plaça del Blat stands the archpriestal church of Sant Joan. The current building was completed towards the end of the 16th century, at a time when Valls had already become an important town within the Camp de Tarragona region. Inside, late Gothic forms are still visible, while the façade reflects Renaissance principles.

The element that truly defines the skyline is the bell tower. At just over 70 metres in height, often cited at around 74, it ranks among the tallest parish church towers in Catalonia. From the top, the layout of the old town becomes clear: traces of the medieval walls, narrow streets that follow earlier routes, and the former Jewish quarter, whose presence survives in the urban fabric.

To the north rises the Serra de Miramar. There stands the sanctuary of the Mare de Déu de Lledó. Local tradition holds that the image of the Virgin appeared in the 14th century, and since then she has been regarded as the city’s patron saint. The story forms part of Valls’ collective memory, linking the town to the surrounding hills.

Calçots, cargols and a visit from Dalí

A calçotada is more than a meal. It began in connection with agricultural work and still retains something of that atmosphere: open-air embers, hands darkened by soot, piles of charred outer layers gathering on the ground. Calçots are grilled directly over the flame, wrapped briefly so they steam in their own heat, then eaten standing up. Each one is held by the green tip and dipped into romesco sauce before being lowered into the mouth.

The gesture repeats dozens of times over the course of a meal. Grilled meat often accompanies the onions, and in many homes there are also cargols a la llauna, snails roasted on a tray and classified here by size with notable precision. Xató sometimes appears too, in its inland version, plainer than the coastal variety.

During the 1970s, Salvador Dalí passed through Valls in calçot season and received an honorary title connected to the festival. Local newspapers recorded the scene. It remains one of those stories that resurface each winter when smoke from the grills drifts once again across the square.

The large annual celebration of the calçotada usually takes place on the last Sunday of January. On that day, the town’s link to this onion becomes particularly visible. Yet the relationship with calçots extends far beyond a single date. Throughout the colder months, gatherings continue in private and public spaces alike, rooted in habits that began in the fields.

Moving around Valls

Valls lies about twenty minutes from Tarragona and roughly an hour from Barcelona by road. The historic centre is easy to explore on foot. Many streets in the old quarter have restricted traffic access, which keeps the core relatively calm.

Visitors typically leave their car in one of the large car parks on the immediate edge of the centre and continue on foot. Within ten minutes, it is possible to reach Plaça del Blat and the heart of the old town.

Those who want to see Valls at its most animated often choose the big calçotada festival at the end of January. In June, for Sant Joan, the castells return to the square. For the rest of the year, Valls functions as a medium-sized inland town within the Camp, with industry, agricultural cooperatives and a local life that does not revolve solely around its festivities.

Even so, certain themes recur. The smoke of winter. The vertical tension of a castell rising above the square. And the ongoing argument over whether Colla Vella or Colla Joves achieved particular feats first. In Valls, that conversation continues, season after season.