Spanish Christmas Tradition: Cagatio

✨ Today I'd like to share a particularly fun Spanish tradition with you all—Cagatio! It can also be translated as the Pooping Uncle~ 🎄 Every Christmas, while other Western countries are buying and decorating Christmas trees, in Catalonia, Spain, there is a special custom of placing a wooden, anthropomorphic figurine in the home, as shown in Figure 2⃣, which should be prepared from December 8th. This wooden figure plays a role similar to Santa Claus but with a twist—Santa Claus fills your wishes after you hang up your stockings, while the wooden figure comes to the house to poop~😂 Starting from December 8th, every night children feed the wooden uncle with various delicious snacks. Parents then "supervise" the wooden uncle to eat the snacks, causing him to gradually "gain weight" (actually, a larger wooden figure is swapped in). This continues until Christmas Day. On Christmas Day, children take sticks and beat the wooden uncle's body vigorously while singing songs to help him poop more comfortably~ (Figure 4⃣). At this time, the uncle's "bottom" is covered with a cloth. After the joyful beating and singing, parents reveal the snacks and gifts hidden under the cloth for the children~! Thus, the children can reap a super happy treasure trove to celebrate the New Year~ The origin of this custom is said to stem from the locals' reverence for nature, believing that one cannot take without giving back to the forest, and that feces represent the fertility of the land, which is a good omen. In addition to the Pooping Uncle, a cute pooping figurine called Caganer has emerged (Figure 5⃣), which can be purchased in some shops in the old town district. These figurines depict various people in the act of pooping and are very humorous and adorable. If interested, you can choose one to take home~ haha! #SpanishCulture #SpainTravel #SpanishSouvenirs #ChristmasCustoms #SpanishCulturalFeatures #cagatio