The tradition of Tió

The Tió is a magic trunk and a well-known tradition in Catalonia. This basically consists of taking care of it a few days before the start of the festivities with a very varied diet: tangerine peels, cookies, nuts and a good blanket so that it does not pass cold, until Christmas Eve, December 24th.

Then all the members of the family will gather in a separate room to sing typical songs and recite Christmas poems while the Tió magically prepares the gifts. After singing, everyone will hit them with their sticks while they sing:

“Tió, tió,
caga torró
d’aquell tan bo;
si no tens més
caga diners,
si no en tens prou
caga un ou.”

Once the song is finished, they will lift the blanket that covered it to discover all the gifts.

The tradition, of rural and pre-Christian origin, offered only trinkets and sweets for the smallest of the house, such as wafer tubes and nougat, but nowadays it has changed a lot and now every time it shits bigger things, from all kinds of toys to bicycles or tricycles.