* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
I have photographed for the Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia in the Firal de Olot the Great Uncle waiting for all the boys and girls to make him shit, as is the tradition during these Christmas dates.
On the last Sunday before Christmas, the Gran Tió of the Association of Merchants of Olot usually gives out gifts for all the boys and girls, in an activity with the participation of many families.
According to tradition, days before Christmas, when the uncle is already home, the fattening period begins so that, when he is made to shit, he can give all kinds of gifts.
The tio is a ritual of rural origin, which symbolizes abundance: an old, dry trunk gives away sweets and sweets from its entrails. But, symbolically, it is much more, since it is the omen of the rebirth of nature.
In the past, in houses and fields, the trunk was burned after cagatio and the ashes were used as elements of protection against lightning, insects...
Currently, the tions are friendly characters from the Christmas imagination, covered with the barretina and with a face with a drawn smile, as can be seen in the images.
