has anybody heard of the ´cagatío´? it´s found in the nativity scene...?

Question

hi, i saw this in barcelona, spain. in their nativity scenes, they always have some guy hidden in some bushes taking a dump! i´m not kidding! what´s the story behind that? i think it´s some folkloric thing, where the dooky is really supposed to be a present...who knows??

Answer 1

Good Heavens - that is disgusting. I found this information:
The cagatió is a log, with a face painted on it, wearing a barretina, the red hat of traditional peasant costume. On Christmas Day, it's hidden under a blanket and the kids beat it with a stick, singing a rather rude little song that asks it to -- if you'll excuse the expression -- "****" presents. Pilar Diaz, the second Spanish teacher who came with us, explained that the scatological thing is in fact a serious symbol of fertility for the next year.

That's also the explanation behind another of the peculiar local traditions. The caganer is a figure that adorns a corner of the cribs in everyone's home. Traditionally, the caganer is dressed in traditional costume, though we saw others dressed as culés (Barça fans, that is), bishops, Civil Guards, Spain's president José Luis Zapatero and literally countless others. Yes, the caganer has his trousers (traditional or otherwise) down and is taking a pooh. We even saw caganers that were castellers - the human towers that are another wonderful tradition here. Only the one on the bottom was spending sixpence, I should add.

I found another site here:
http://lungbrothers.blogspot.com/2005/03/christmas-in-scatalonia.html
that reiterates the same, but in his or her own words. It's hard to believe that this is an actual custom; I would NEVER let my children say the word "****"!

Answer 2

caga tiò, I thought you were shi†ing me