EL CAGA TIÓ

This is a small trunk of untreated wood, with the bark still attached, said to symbolize the dormant state of nature during the winter. Okay, not too weird up to now - actually reminiscent of the traditional Yule Log in my native England.

But .... let's not get ahead of ourselves. First let me describe the trunk.

It is decorated with a cute face and is wearing the ubiquitous Catalan hat. Children place him in a corner in the house a couple of weeks before Christmas and cover his ''body'' with a cloth or shawl. Every day they put some food out for him so that he will, figuratively speaking, grow big and fat. (I can hear your mind working - food, the Spanish verb cagar, the translation of which we already know fine well).

On the appointed day (22nd - 25th December, depending on the town), the children of the house then proceed to beat the trunk of wood with a stick, the idea being that if you hit him hard enough he will shit himself! Yes - 100% true. The Catalans really do encourage their young ones that it is perfectly acceptable to hit a cute, little character who never did anything to anyone and who has sat quietly in a corner, until he shits himself! Okay, so he does actually shit presents (previously hidden under the cloth or shawl by the parents) but I am not 100% convinced that it is really a good idea in this day and age to encourage children into thinking that this type of action is okay. Still, I suppose it does bear some resemblance to the piñata, popular in South America - just harmless fun? So let's not take it out of context - after all it isn't a video game encouraging violence, but rather an old winter symbol of renewal.

The roots of this custom are obviously similar to the aforementioned Caganer - that is to say the the ''droppings'' of the Caga Tio fertilize the earth, helping to restart the natural life cycle in Springtime.

I would like to point out at this juncture that the Catalans do not have the monopoly on weird traditions, and I will be dealing with others over the coming year in the ''Strange but true'' section of the website.