What is it with Spain, Christmas and poo?
When you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go!
In Catalonia, Spain, a 200-year-old Christmas tradition involves hiding a 'caganer' - a man, umm... having a poo - in the Nativity scene.
It's usually hidden at the back, and Catalonian children play a game to 'find the caganer'. Nobody knows exactly how the tradition started.
Bonus Bubblegum
Catalonia has not one, but two poo-related Christmas traditions. Tió de Nadal (Christmas Log) or Caga Tió (Shitting Log) is a hollow log about a foot long and stands on four stick legs. It has a painted smiling face with a red sock hat and ‘poops’ out cheese, nougat, fruits and nuts.
I shit you knot
Catalonians start ‘feeding’ their Tiós each night from 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. In the lead up to Christmas, children must take good care of the Tió, which includes keeping it warm with a blanket, in order to ensure a bountiful feast.
On Christmas Day, parents take theTió to the fireplace and order it to defecate by beating it with sticks while singing the song:
Shit log
Shit nougats
Hazelnuts and mató cheese
If you don't shit well
I'll hit you with a stick
Shit log!
Read more
Caganer (Wikipedia)
Tió de Nadal (Wikipedia)
Image credits: Wikipedia (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)
