{"id":59775,"date":"2015-12-09T13:56:30","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T12:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=59775"},"modified":"2015-12-09T13:56:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T12:56:30","slug":"a-catalan-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-catalan-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"A Catalan Christmas in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>Christmas<\/strong> <strong>season<\/strong> in <strong>Barcelona<\/strong> starts on December 8<sup>th<\/sup>, the day of the Immaculate Conception. From that day on, people start decorating their houses and the city becomes a <strong>Christmas<\/strong> wonderland. Do you enjoy a Catalan Christmas?<\/p>\n<div id=\"metaslider-id-104526\" style=\"max-width: 850px; margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"ml-slider-3-25-2 metaslider metaslider-responsive metaslider-104526 ml-slider\">\n    <div id=\"metaslider_container_104526\">\n        <ul id='metaslider_104526' class='rslides'>\n            <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/yearly-rental\" target=\"_self\"><\/a><\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n        \n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Most houses will have a nativity scene, depicting the Bethlehem stable where Jesus was born. It is important to make the nativity scene as authentic as possible, so people use real moss to place the figures on.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is just one of the well-known <strong>Christmas traditions<\/strong> in Catalonia, and this article from&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\"><strong>ShBarcelona<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;is here to tell you more about <strong>local holiday customs<\/strong> in this colorful region.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Tabla de contenidos<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"display: none;\"><i class=\"ez-toc-glyphicon ez-toc-icon-toggle\"><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-catalan-christmas\/#Local-Christmas-traditions\" title=\"Local Christmas traditions\">Local Christmas traditions<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-catalan-christmas\/#Caganer\" title=\"Caganer\">Caganer<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-catalan-christmas\/#Tio-de-Nadal\" title=\"Tio de Nadal\">Tio de Nadal<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-catalan-christmas\/#Los-Reyes\" title=\"Los Reyes\">Los Reyes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Local-Christmas-traditions\"><\/span>Local Christmas traditions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Caganer\"><\/span>Caganer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While the nativity scene is something that can be found in many houses across the world, there is one little character that only be found in Catalonia, Valencia and Andorra: the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/caganer\/\">Caganer<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This colorful ceramic figure presents a man who is squatting, with his pants down and bare buttocks&nbsp;while a small pile of feces rests right below him. The man is dressed in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/catalan-traditions\/\">traditional<\/a><\/strong> clothes, wearing a white shirt, a black vest and a red bonnet.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_96912\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96912\" class=\"wp-image-96912\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/en\/2015\/12\/caca.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"570\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-96912\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by tetegil via VisualHunt<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This quirky tradition started towards the end of the seventeenth century. The <strong>Caganer<\/strong> is said to represent prosperity. By defecating on the land he fertilizes the fields for the coming year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It has become such a famous figure, that it can now be found year-long in several stores in <strong>Barcelona.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"fasc-button fasc-size-large fasc-type-flat fasc-rounded-medium ico-fa fasc-ico-before fa-chevron-circle-right\" style=\"background-color: #850909; color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/apartments-for-rent\/short-term\">Christmas holiday in Barcelona?<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There have even been created other versions of the <strong>Caganer,<\/strong> depicting famous people like Barack Obama, the Queen of England, Bono from U2, Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and many more.&nbsp; However, this is not the only strange part of the <strong>Catalan Christmas&nbsp;<\/strong>tradition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related articles:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/catalan-and-spanish-traditions-in-new-years-eve\/\">Catalan and Spanish traditions in New Year\u2019s Eve<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tio-de-Nadal\"><\/span>Tio de Nadal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There is another character that makes his appearance on December 8<sup>th<\/sup>, staying until Christmas Eve. The <strong>Tio de Nadal<\/strong>,&nbsp;or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dB_N7-HXTlI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Caga Ti\u00f3<\/a>,<\/strong> is a small log with a friendly face and a red bonnet that can either be made at home or purchased.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_105185\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105185\" class=\"wp-image-105185 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/en\/2015\/12\/2134037746_99476254b6_z.jpg\" alt=\"tio de nadal - a catalan christmas\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-105185\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by Josep Ma. Rosell via Visualhunt<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>Caga Ti\u00f3<\/strong> (Poo Log) is covered with a blanket and fed by the children every night. When the children go to bed, parents hide <strong>Caga Ti\u00f3<\/strong>\u2019s food, so the kids think the log has eaten them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On Christmas Eve, the children sing a song and hit <strong>Caga Ti\u00f3<\/strong> with sticks, enticing him to poop out presents for them.&nbsp;After the song, they reach under the blanket and discover small presents.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56935\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56935\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56935\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/en\/2015\/07\/gifts-570821_640.jpg\" alt=\"gifts\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-56935\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But the day that is dedicated to gift-giving is actually <strong>Epiphany<\/strong> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/dia-de-los-reyes-magos-the-three-wise-men-day\/\"><strong>Three Kings<\/strong><\/a>. It is a reference to the day when the three kings arrived in Bethlehem bringing gifts for Jesus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Los-Reyes\"><\/span>Los Reyes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Also known as <em>Los reyes,&nbsp;<\/em><strong>Three Kings&nbsp;<\/strong>is celebrated from the 5<sup>th<\/sup> to the 6<sup>th<\/sup> of January. The city receives a special <strong>parade<\/strong> where people dressed up as the kings hand out <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/barcelonas-holiday-sweets\/\">sweets<\/a><\/strong> to children.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At home, children leave their shoes by the window. In the morning, they can finally open their <strong>Christmas<\/strong> gifts. There&#8217;s something to be said for being in Barcelona at <strong>Christmas time<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_105186\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105186\" class=\"wp-image-105186\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/en\/2015\/12\/49335776186_9b59a708f0_b.jpg\" alt=\"children behaved well to receive gifts\" width=\"640\" height=\"456\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-105186\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo by Jose Javier Martin Espartosa via Visualhunt<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Holiday traditions of other cultures are always fascinating, but the Christmas practices of Catalonia can be especially interesting to experience if you are new to the culture and are lucky enough to be in the city at this time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Did you know about these Catalan Christmas traditions?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Which one is your favourite?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Christmas season in Barcelona starts on December 8th, the day of the Immaculate Conception. From that day on, people start decorating their houses and the city becomes a Christmas wonderland. Do you enjoy a Catalan Christmas? &nbsp; Most houses will have a nativity scene, depicting the Bethlehem stable where Jesus was born. It is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":555708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52562],"tags":[52716,745],"class_list":["post-59775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catalan-folklore","tag-a-catalan-christmas","tag-christmas-barcelona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}