Leo Urban Scales Torre Glories
This is the adrenaline-pumping moment a man climbs up a more than 470-foot tower barefoot and with no safety equipment as people watch on.
The incident was captured on the famous Torre Glories, formerly known as the Agbar Tower, in the city of Barcelona in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, yesterday (Thursday, 27th August).
The occasion marks the second time French climber Leo Urban scales the large building. The first time was in November of last year alongside his friend Nico Mathieux, however, this time he decided to go at it alone.
The video shows the moment that Urban goes up the famous tower as the person filming can be heard laughing.
Several members of his group cheer him on by clapping and yelling ‘Leo!’ as he continues he steady ascend.
Despite the impressive feat, the man was greeted by police upon reaching the top and has an open investigation on him, however, it is unclear if authorities plan on formally charging him with anything.
Urban spoke with Metropolitan Press and said: “I needed two days of preparation. Two days of mentally preparing myself and psychological preparation through a lot of meditation.
“When I decided to go ahead with it, I got there and 10 seconds later the police showed up and took my information. The fact I was going to climb was somehow leaked.”
Authorities confiscated his “climbing equipment, my cat feet climbing shoes, my Magnesium and my GoPro” which forced him to do it with no safety equipment and barefooted.
Urban went on to say his climb started “similar to that of an action movie” having to run towards the building and climb the first 10 feet very fast because police and security guards were following him around with an “order to stop me from climbing in any way possible.”
One of the crystals that make up the outside of the building was broken due to Urban’s explosiveness while trying to push off as quickly as possible at the very start of his climb, gained from practising parkour.
He said he can “confirm, not a single other crystal” was damaged in his climb after reports that several were damaged, adding that after the first 10 feet “I was going much slower and with a lot of concentration.”
Due to the fact Urban climbed the building after having a conversation with police, he could be charged with a penal offence, however, the exact charges are unclear.
When explaining why he decided to go ahead with it despite the legal risks and potentially dying he said: “I think in life we have to do things and when something gets in my head it’s really hard for me not to do it.”
The Torre Glories’ roof is 473.88 feet (144.43 meters) high and was officially open in June 2005. It was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel in association with Spanish firm b720 Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos and cost around 130 million EUR