Nativity scenes are very popular in Catalonia, with large set-ups found in homes and town centres around the region. However there is one figure in a Catalan nativity scene not normally found elsewhere: the caganer. This is a figure of a man or woman squatting with their trousers down. Now there is even a holiday industry producing caganer caricatures of famous figures from public life and popular culture.
This year, the star seller is the caganer of Catalan president Carles Puidgemont, and not just within Catalonia, it's currently the most ordered around Spain.
Sergi Alós, manager of the company Caganer.com, has said that whilst last year US president Donald Trump was the bestseller, this year Puigdemont is the undisputed winner. And this success continues in places which, at first glance, seem surprising. For example, a stall of Christmas decorations in Madrid's plaça Mayor. So whilst one of the places Puigdemont sells best is in Catalonia, he is also leading the ranking in the rest of Spain.
In the capital, the sales success was focused on that one stand which has been set up in plaça Mayor around these dates for over 70 years. Alós says that the first request was received weeks ago and that "whilst they ordered 10 of [Spanish PM] Rajoy, they already ordered 20 of Puigdemont to start with, saying that they had reserves".
Sold out
The demand is such that the figures of the Catalan president sold out in only two days and they had to order 80 more. The stall's owner, Fernando Jiménez, described it as "absolute madness" and said that "people don't buy him to mock him, but because they want to have him in their collections". So far, he has already sold some 35 Puigdemonts caganers and doesn't discount the possibility he'll have to order more.
This isn't the first year Puigdemont has been available in caganer form, but Alós says it's certainly the first time that such a specifically Catalan figure has seen such success around Spain. He also says that it's selling very well in the United States and around Europe. "Certainly because many people are following the political situation and because there are many Catalans living abroad," he says.