Merry Christmas All!

I hope you are close to a warm fire and some great food, but most importantly with the people you love!

Although our family and friends are 1000’s of kms away this holiday, Shanti and I feel as if we are right there, enjoying every minute with you all. We are definitely lucky to share it with one another and experience Christmas the Spanish way. And being that we are in Barcelona, it’s not just the Spanish customs we get to witness, but also the Catalan customs as well. Always wanting to be different, the Catalans have a couple unique customs that they have added which have recently been considered as some of the strangest holiday traditions.

I think all Canadians feel a little out of sorts spending Christmas in a place that is not cold or does not offer the chance of a white Christmas. I agree that this is the biggest difference, but you soon see other things that you can relate to that are similar to home; like the crowds, the smell of pine trees, the smiles on the faces of the little kids and the general feeling of kindness. Ahhhh Christmas.

Turkey is not a customary dish at Christmas here in Spain and we were worried that I would have to make a Christmas paella instead. As it turned out, we did manage to source a turkey sans neck and feathers. We weren’t too keen on having to bring out the Gillette and butcher knife so we are thankful for finding one that was ready to go! We even sourced out cranberry sauce, as well as a token handful of brussel sprouts. Some traditions die hard! (Thanks dad!)

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, we took in the holiday spirit by just walking the streets and this is what we saw.

Fira de Santa Llucia

Shanti checks out the ornaments

Santa arrives by ladder here in Spain due to a lack of chimneys.

Nativity scenes take center stage here.

Outdoor nativity scene at Placa St. Jaume.

Ok, so far nothing strange with any of the above. This is where it gets interesting though. Below is a picture of Caga Tio. What is a Caga Tio? Well, basically it means ‘pooping log’. And that’s exactly what it does…it poops presents for the little kids! (Yes, the good kids too!)

Dressed in a little red sock hat representing the Catalan barretina the children ‘gently’ use sticks and hit the Caga Tio as they sing various songs of Tio de Nadal.

Covered in a blanket…the pooping Caga Tio! Forget sitting on Santa’s lap, let’s beat a pooping log instead!

To make him “poop”, one beats him with sticks. After hitting it softly with a stick during the song it is hit harder on the words “caga tió!”. Then somebody puts his hand under the blanket and takes a gift. The gift is opened and then the song begins again.

The Catalan Caga Tio

We called this Caganer Square.

Strange huh!? Well that’s just the half of it. But first, back to some normal Christmas fare.

In the ‘Caganer Square’ there were about 6 rows of stalls that sold everything one needs for Christmas in Barcelona whether it be the tree, some new ornaments, maybe an addition to the nativity scene or perhaps a new character or two (like a caganer).

What is a caganer? Well the astute reader will notice that it has a very similar word in it to the Caga Tio. Yes, you guessed it….the verb caganer… means ‘to poop’.

In addition to Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the Shepherds and company, Catalans have the character known as the Caganer. This extra little character is often tucked away in some corner of the nativity scene, typically nowhere near the manger scene, where he is not easily noticed. There is a good reason for his obscure position in the display, for “caganer” translates from Catalan to English as “pooper”, and that is exactly what this little statue is doing — pooping!.

All sizes, shapes and models. From futbal players to F1 drivers, from politicians to nurses! Everyone poops!

Let’s see if you can spot the Caganer in this nativity scene we snapped from a store front today. It is basically the Spanish version of ‘Where’s Waldo’ isn’t it!

So there you have it! A Spanish…errr….Catalan Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Love Kalan and Shanti.