Camino Barcelona Blog

Hi folks,

Today I would like to write a blog about a special Catalan tradition: Caganer

Caganer is a particular Catalan figurine commonly seen in the nativity scenes. This figurine is not wearing pants and appears to be defecating ..

“Cagar” means to poop in Catalan, so “el caganer” is the pooper or the pooping man, also known as the man doing his duty!

The caganer is usually placed under a bridge or behind a haystack, hidden, somewhere on the nativity scene since it is a lack of respect if this figure were situated in the landscape visible for everyone. It has a playful purpose, which is for the children to find him amongst the other more traditional figurines that compose the Nativity scene.

It is said that the caganer brings luck because his stools fertilize the earth; therefore he is a symbol of a good harvest for the following year. Putting this figurine in the nativity scene brings luck and happiness. Not doing it brings misfortune.

Traditionally, the caganer was a peasant in Catalan dress which the latest years is often the image of famous people such as politicians as Batack Obama, Silvio Berlusconi, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, Nikolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and Kate Middleton, José Luís Rodriguez Zapatero etc:

Or sportspeople as Messi, Pep Guardiola or Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho:

The caganer of the year is chosen every year. Last year was Nikolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni. This year seems to be Piqué from FC Barcelona and Shakira.

Caganers are easily found in Christmas markets markets such as Fira de Santa Lucia in front of the Cathedral in Barcelona. Join our Christmas course starting on 19th and 26th December which includes a special Christmas activities program where one of them is a visit to Santa Lucia market.

Come to Barcelona and meet this typical figurine! You’ll love it! Take your favorite politician “pooping”!

Cheers,

Genta

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 at 11:46 am and is filed under Genta's Posts, Spanish Culture - Cultura española, What to do in Barcelona. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.