Nativity Scenes in Catalonia

The pessebre

Pessebre is Catalan for nativity scene. Like the Italian presepe and the French crèche, it comes from the word for manger.

It’s built much like the Spanish belén: big landscapes, several scenes spread across the scenery, lots of cork and plaster, and a love of water and moving parts. There are also pessebrista clubs, with their own exhibits and contests.

What sets it apart is two characters in particular.

The caganer

Yes, really: a small figure squatting with his pants down, doing his business, hidden somewhere in the scenery. He’s behind a bush or around the corner of a wall, never near the Holy Family.

He’s often misunderstood, so here are three things to know:

• It isn’t a modern joke. The caganer goes back to at least the 17th century. He’s a traditional part of the scene, not a recent prank.
• The most common explanation is agricultural: he fertilizes the soil, and having him there is a wish for a good harvest next year. Another explanation is that he’s a reminder, right in the middle of a holy scene, that we’re all human and all equal when nature calls.
• He hides, and you look for him. Kids love finding him, and that’s a big part of the fun: it gets them looking closely at every corner of the scene.

The traditional caganer is a farmer wearing the barretina, the red Catalan cap. For several decades now, workshops have also made caganers of famous people: athletes, politicians, celebrities. Like the figures of people in the news sold on San Gregorio Armeno in Naples, it carries on the tradition rather than breaking from it.

The tió de Nadal

Also called caga tió. It isn’t part of the nativity scene itself, but it shares the house at the same time of year, and a Catalan Christmas wouldn’t be complete without it.

It’s a wooden log standing on two little legs, with a smiling face painted on and a barretina on its head. Starting in early December (traditionally December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), children “feed” it every evening by leaving out a little food, and tuck a blanket over it so it doesn’t get cold.

At Christmas, the kids hit it with sticks while everyone sings, and it “gives back” candy, small presents and turrón (nougat) that the grown-ups have slipped under the blanket. The song asks the log for sweets instead of herring, a food for fasting days.

Together with the caganer, the tió shows something that runs through this whole tradition: the holy and the everyday share the same room, and neither takes anything away from the other.

The Santa Llúcia fair

The Fira de Santa Llúcia is held in Barcelona, in front of the cathedral, from late November until Christmas. It’s one of the oldest Christmas markets in Europe, on record since the late 1700s.

You’ll find pessebre figures, building supplies (cork, moss, scenery pieces), tiós in every size and, of course, plenty of caganers. It’s Catalonia’s version of the Marseille santon fair, and it plays the same role: it’s where the tradition is handed down and kept fresh every year.

Other Catalan towns have their own fairs. Dates change, so check locally. For Santa Llúcia and other fairs in Spain, see nativity fairs in Spain.

The calendar

• Early December: the pessebre goes up. The tió arrives, traditionally on December 8, and the feeding begins.
• December 24–25: the tió is made to “give,” and Baby Jesus is laid in the manger.
• December 26: Sant Esteve (Saint Stephen’s Day) is a public holiday in Catalonia. Families get together over canelons, a pasta dish made with Christmas Day leftovers.
• January 5–6: as in the rest of Spain, the Three Wise Men bring the presents, after parading through town the night before.

Beyond Catalonia

The caganer and the tió also show up, under similar names, in other Catalan-speaking areas and parts of the Pyrenees. Traditions don’t stop at borders.