The Christmas in Catalonia

In Catalonia our Christmas holidays start on the 24th of December, that evening we have dinner with our family and we do the “caga Tió” and Christmas finishes on the 6th of January when the 3 kings have brought presents.
The “Tió” originally it was a trunk that was lit in the chimney and it stayed light with the heat that the presents were giving it. Now a days, it is a trunk decorated with legs and a smiling face drawn on it.

From the 8th of December, called the “Puríssima day” the Tió is fed (with the skin of the fruit and vegetables that the children eat) and it is covered with a blanket so that it doesn’t get cold.



On the 24th of December we do the “caga Tió” that is when we sing a song many times knocking it with a stick.
The Tió never gives big presents, normally it gives sweats and little present and when it does not want to give any more, it tells you by giving you a piece of garlic, onion or coal.
On the 25th of December we have a Christmas lunch with the family, the next day on the 26th of December we celebrate Boxing Day, that day is normally when you see family that you have not been able to see on Christmas day.


During these holidays, all the houses have got “pessebres”, that represent when baby Jesus was born, made with moss, little sticks and ceramic figures representing the hole village. In some villages you can go and see a “pessebre” made up with real people, so that you can see it in live.

On the 5th of January in the evening, all the children are looking forward for the 3 Kings to arrive: the white king “Melchor”, the blond king “Gaspar” and the black king “Baltasar”.
In Estartit, the kings arrive on the boat, and the children wait for them in the harbour with candles so that they can be guided through the night. They get on top of their camels and they throw lots of sweats for the children once they get to the church square.

The children that have not had time to send their letter to the kings, with what they would like, can give it to them personally.


After this, it is time to go to bed, without forgetting to leave them three glasses of milk and some biscuits for the kings and their camels that can be very hungry having to give out so many presents.

The next day, in the morning, if we have been good we will find presents under the Christmas tree, and if we have been bad? Coal for everyone!

The Family Ferrer and their history with tourism...

In 1977, the Family Ferrer started to work in the tourist industry. In those days we dedicated our time to agriculture and fishing as these were the principal activities of the village

We entered the world of tourism purely by accident. There was no business plan or market research, but during that summer our Mother was bored with insufficient to do so it was decided to open a mini golf.

In that first year of 1977 the building work for the office was not complete by the beginning of summer so we served our first customers on one of the benches next to the mini golf.

At the end of that first summer we realized that tourism was more profitable than agriculture, (this without making any studies of the market.) The following year all building work for the mini golf was complete, this included a small area for a bar and terrace.

For some years the family combined the two industries, but as the years continued agriculture became less and less viable while tourism grew to the extent of lengthening the opening period from Easter to October.

In 1979 the trampolines were built, in 1980 the tennis courts and in 1981 more trampolines and tennis courts were added. The current bar and terrace area are a result of increased trade in 1982. Finally in 1984 the skating rink was built.

From then until now only small changes have been made since there is no more space to grow! Although this year’s news is that a tennis club has been created.

In 1992 we opened the restaurant Mont-Pla, with a capacity of 180 people. The restaurant is divided into three rooms that permits space to accommodate quiet diners and group diners with no problems. The cuisine is international and takes advantage of the excellent fresh food on the market. The restaurant consists of eleven workers, including waiters, chefs and cleaners. The kitchen has grown to the extent that it is now known as one of the most popular restaurants in Estartit. Of the different types of plates we serve we recommend our typical local dishes such as “Suquet” or “Sarsuela”and, of course, Paella. If steak is your favourite our entrecote is excellent.

In 1993, the Family Ferrer became the owner of the camping Emporda. The site was first opened in 1982 and was not in the best condition and therefore not attracting new clients.

In the first year of opening there were only five people working for a very short season. The site now has twenty five people working in high season and we are open from Easter to 12^th. October.

During the ten years of occupancy we have had more and more clients thanks to word and mouth as we only started to publicise five years ago. We also have regular inspections by national and international prestigious guides.

As time has passed, we have received so many families and it has always been our desire to serve them in the best possible way

So, taking advantage of this letter we would like to thank you for your visit and confidence in us.

Thank you.

Family Ferrer