For people who celebrate Christmas, traditions range from those celebrated countrywide to those that take place within one family. My own family, for example, throws a party every Christmas Eve, and eats coffee cake for breakfast Christmas morning. One of my friends stays up with her family watching movies until midnight on Christmas Eve. Others have annual formal dinners. Barcelona has many classic Christmas traditions, such as Papá Noel (Santa Claus) and the belén (Nativity scene), but they also have traditions with a unique twist. Here in Barcelona, in all of Catalonia actually, they have a particularly interesting Christmas tradition. Come learn about it!
My family taught me about Tió de Nadal (Christmas Log) which is represented by a hollow log, sometimes with a face drawn or carved onto it. Starting around December 8, the family begins to 'feed' the log, leaving out food for it and covering it with a blanket to keep it warm. As they keep leaving food out for the log, it appears to get fatter, so the children know they are taking good care of it. When Christmas arrives, all of the kids take turns beating the log with a stick while singing songs in order to make it drop small gifts that relatives have stuffed under the blanket. These gifts might be small toys or candy for everyone to share.
