Caga tiós. Photo by Joan C.G.
Caga Tió
It’s not tio as in “uncle” or “guy.” It’s tió meaning “log” and the Tió de Nadal is a special Christmas log that has even “Lord of the Rings” actor Viggo Mortensen and the American actress Kate McKinnon hooked. The Tió is given human physical features (eyes, eyebrows, nose, legs, an occasional beard), wrapped in a blanket for warmth and crowned with the traditional red Catalan barretina (hat). Much like putting ornaments on a Christmas tree, it’s customary for the whole family to come together before the Christmas season to create or pick out a Tió and then in the weeks leading up to Christmas the kids take over.
Beginning on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, children “feed” the Tió every night using peels from fruits, vegetables and other natural wastes—some say in an attempt to get the children to eat healthy—in hopes that the Tió will excrete more and more goodies for them at Christmas.
When the big day arrives (often Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in some homes), children beat the Tió with sticks so he’ll “drop his load” of candy, figurines and small toys, as well as food and drink for Christmas and Sant Esteve meals, such as torrons (traditional nougat), champagne, dried figs and mandarins. While they hit him, it’s customary to sing a song whose words vary from town to town but the tune stays the same. A typical version goes like this:
Caga tió,
caga torrons, avellanes i
mató,
si no cagues bé
et daré un cop de bastó.
Caga tió!
Shit log,
shit nougat, hazelnuts and
cheese,
if you don’t shit well,
I’ll hit you with a stick.
Shit log!
Caganer, photo by Casa Batlló (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) via Flickr.
Caganer
The tradition of the caganer is believed to go back 300 years to an Iberian votive depicting a holy warrior defecating, which was discovered near Tornabous in Urgell. Now you can find them in the Christmas markets, in the shapes of local and international figures like the Queen of England, Donald Trump, Leo Messi and Spiderman.
Originally, the caganer was a necessary figure in the nativity scene. He was thought to bring good luck and happiness to the family, and his fecal droppings were a symbol of wealth and the promise of a productive new year.
The caganer is still often placed within the Catalan nativity scene today. Local nativity scenes generally depict the entire town of Bethlehem and the caganer is usually found crouched in a corner. When a Barcelona city-commissioned nativity scene in 2005 didn’t include a caganer, citizens launched a campaign “Salvem el caganer” (save the caganer) and it was restored in 2006. In December 2010, a 19-foot, 8.22-inch caganer was placed in the Maremagnum Shopping Center and grabbed the Guinness World Record for Largest Caganer.
Originally published December 2012, updated November 15, 2021.