Christmas traditions vary somewhat between different countires, sometimes even between different parts of the same country. Herein, we present you the Christmas traditions of Catalonia, which are quite unique and differ from the rest of Spain. It’s almost Christmas now, and all the streets are decorated for the event. In this moment some of you might be decorating the Christmas tree, preparing the crib or you might be buying Christmas presents somewhere.
Nevertheless, in Barcelona something else also happens, something really particular that doesn’t occur in other places, the Catalans are buying Caga Tiós and Caganers, which are part of the local customs and christmas traditions of Catalonia.
The Caga Tió
In the beginning, Caga Tió was a big trunk that was burnt in the houses so that it brings light and heat during the Christmas festivities. Later the concept progressed, it’s still a big wooden trunk, but they draw eyes and mouth on it, and they put a typical Catalan hat, la barretina on top of it. This Caga Tió appears in front of the doors during the Advent period. The children have to take care of him, they have to feed him till the day of Christmas. The Caga Tió eats everything, but traditionally fruits and skin of fruit are given to it. The more it eats, the more will “shit” in the end, which is the objective!
In the evening of 24th December the kids sing a song to the Tió so that it takes a shit, since it shits presents, and the more it shits, the happier the kids are. If it doesn’t shit, the children start beating it with a stick.
The song they sing is the following:
Caga tió (Make a poop tió)
ametlles i torró (almonds and turron)
no caguis arangades (don’t shit herrings)
que són massa salades (which are too salty)
caga torrons (shit turrons)
que són més bons (which are better)
Caga tió (Make a poop tió)
ametlles i torró (almonds and turron)
si no vols cagar (if you don’t want to shit)
et donaré un cop de bastó (i will beat you with a stick)
The Caganer
However, the Christmas traditions related to shitting don’t end here. There’s another character, the Caganer. Traditionally the Caganer was the figure of a peasant dressed in typical Catalan clothing crouched down with his bottom in the air. These figures were placed in a corner hidden from the crib. According to local Christmas traditions this figure brings good luck.
Nowadays there are Caganer figures of every possible famous person shitting from football players to politicians and the craftsmen make new masterpieces every year.
There are several interpretations of this figure: what we like the most is that the excrements fertilize the soil, hence these figures are considered as symbols of good luck and prosperity for the following year.
If you visit Barcelona around Christmas time, it’s a great idea to check out one of the Christmas markets in the city. The biggest market is Santa Lucia Market, just in front of the Cathedral. Are there any peculiar Christmas traditions in your country or where you live?
OMG! I love this, I’d heard of the shitting logs before, but didn’t know it was turron! I love Turron!!