Christmas-time in Catalonia is well underway, and I'm here to fill you in on one of Catalonia's most intriguing and fun traditions!
You've heard of the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight on New Years. Well here's a new one for you: the Caga Tió.
Not a Spanish tradition, but one celebrated in Spain by the Catalans - the Caga Tió (or "poop log" in English) is like a Catalan version of Santa Claus. The legend goes that from the beginning of December up until Christmas, the children of Catalonia "feed" the Caga Tió - a log with a hand painted face and traditional Catalan hat - with Turron and orange peels, much like Americans leave a plate of cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas Eve, they put a blanket over the back of him; and on Christmas day, the children beat him with a stick while singing a song, uncover the blanket, and find their Christmas gifts underneath. So basically, the Caga Tió "poops out" the gifts - hence the name, poop log.
One of my classmates told me her family always celebrated the tradition on Three Kings Day in January, since that is they day they gave gifts instead of on Christmas. While everybody may celebrate it a bit differently, it is still a popular tradition amongst the Catalan people. I've seen the Caga Tió at flower shops, outside of store fronts, in the window of a bakery near my house (pictured above), and, most importantly, at the Christmas market! It's a cute, fun tradition and something I have never heard of before.
As silly as it sounds, this is the kind of stuff I love traveling for. I feel that learning things like this really helps immerse me in the culture of the place I am visiting. If I had never studied abroad in Barcelona, I probably would have gone my whole life without knowing about this cool tradition. And now, I get to share it with you!
Ciao for now,
~Michelle :)