El Tió de Nadal

Along learning the Catalan language we also learn about the Catalan culture, and one thing that I found very interesting was the common festivities that they have in comparison to Latin America and even the United States. One of the prime examples of this is El Tió de Nadal. This figure in the Catalan culture is similar to the figure in North American culture of Santa Claus. The Tió is actually a wood log that is raised by two sticks from one end and with a face painted on it.
In Catalan culture the Tió is “fed” everyday for some time before Christmas. With this, on Christmas day the tradition has the household sing to it a song that we actually learned in class. As they sing to it they order it to defecate as well as hitting it with sticks. This usually means that it delivers the gifts which are mainly candies and nuts. This was very interesting to me because it resembled the Santa Claus figure in the idea that it was “fed” and then they would deliver the gifts to the children. The origins and what the tradition has become definitely is something that stands out to me from the Catalan culture.

RAFAEL MARRÓN