Christmas the Catalonian way

Some traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas have developed in weird ways. I particularly like a custom that has grown up in Catalonia, Spain.

Catalan nativity scenes typically include the whole town of Bethlehem rather than just the scene around the infant Jesus. Since the 17th century it has become traditional to include a small ceramic figurine of a person squatting to answer the call of nature, hidden in an obscure corner of the scene such as under a bridge or behind a haystack.

Young children play a game that involves searching for el caganer (the pooper). According to the website of the Association of Friends of the Caganer (Amics del Caganer), the figurine must be discreetly hidden because it would show a lack of respect to position it near the manger scene.

The original caganer was a wooden or clay model of a Catalan peasant farmer wearing the traditional floppy red cap and smoking a cigarette or pipe. But nowadays the defaecating figurine is often a representation of someone well known.

Among the 175 or so designs commercially available are a range of politicians, including George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, Silvio Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Other figurines depict various sportsmen plus an assortment of characters that includes Pope Benedict XVI, Salvador Dali, Sherlock Holmes, Bart Simpson, Father Christmas and some Smurfs. New this year is a Queen Elizabeth II caganer.

Another scatological element of the Catalan Christmas is the tió de nadal (nativity log), a 30cm log hollowed out at one end and with a smiley face at the other. From 8 December it is “fed” small amounts of sweets, nuts, figs and torrons (nougat) every night and “sleeps” under a little blanket.

At Christmas it is ordered to poop. To encourage its symbolic bowel movement, children sing special songs and beat it with sticks, yelling “caga tió!” (“pooping log!”). Then someone reaches around under the blanket to retrieve a gift for the group to share.

To add to the merriment, pastry shops sell sweets shaped like faeces. Those Catalonians really know how to have fun.