The story of the Christmas ‘tió’ is centuries old and very curious. Surely you have already found yours in some corner of the forest or it has appeared at home without warning, but how many years has the ‘tió’ been shitting gifts? What is the history of this mythological Christmas creature? Agent Jennifer Roca explains it to us.

“Soca” [Wood], “Christmas log” or “Christmas tió”. This is the name given to this Catalan Christmas creature, whether male or female. Without delay, the ‘tió’ arrives at Catalan homes at Christmas to gorge himself, at night, on all kinds of food — they have a great fondness for mandarins — until 25 December. That is when, if we sing the ‘tió’ song and it is poked very hard in the belly with a stick, it shits presents incessantly.

One of the historical curiosities about the ‘tió’ is the moment when it practically became extinct in Catalonia, after the Second World War. In the old days, in the farmhouses, the Christmas log was placed next to the fireplace, but when the Catalan peasants emigrated to the big cities in search of work, as they lived in flats, they thought it was no longer necessary to celebrate this ancient tradition. 

It was not until the 1970s that Ferran Margarit had the brilliant idea of painting a face on the ‘tió’ and putting it on sale at the Santa Llúcia fair in Barcelona. The initiative was a success, because it reminded children of the tradition of the Christmas ‘tió’, which had almost disappeared. Since then, the passion for getting the ‘tió’ to shit has not stopped growing. Do you want to know more about it? Just watch the video!

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