Catalonia
Catalonia is a small region that is part of Spain, but has long dreamed of seceding from the country and becoming an independent state. Catalans not only prove their independence in the political arena - New Year and Christmas traditions here are also different from other European countries. A few days before Christmas in this area, they begin to "cleanse the logs" - this is how the name of the annual ritual "caga tió" is translated from the Catalan dialect. Its essence lies in the fact that in every family it is necessary to make a funny creature with paws and a cute face from a log. Now the new pet will be the most welcome guest in the house for a long time - the owners will treat him with festive dishes, sweets and fruits. True, the happiness of an unprecedented beast will not last long: on Christmas night, hospitable owners will begin to "heal" the log, or, more simply, to beat it with everything that comes to hand. It turns out that happiness in the coming year depends on the strength of the blows.
Austria
According to an old Austrian legend, Saint Nicholas (or, in other words, Santa Claus) has an unpleasant, evil adversary - Krampus, who interferes with a kind wizard who hastens to deliver gifts to obedient children, builds various intrigues, and generally performs all the obligatory functions of a negative character ... By the way, for the parents of naughty children, Krampus does not seem like such a harmful hero at all - after all, the evil spirit takes the naughty ones to its cave, presumably to eat them for Christmas dinner. So, little fidgets run the risk of not only being left without gifts, but also being eaten. To protect themselves from a monster, whose appearance looks like a crow and a feature in one person, resourceful kids began to dress up as Krampus themselves so that the villain would not find them. That is why on Christmas Eve, it is not Santa Clauses and Snow Maidens that walk the streets of Vienna at all, but quite fabulous monsters.
Norway
Everyone knows that just before Christmas various evil spirits, witches and other evil spirits, of which there seem to be quite a few in Norway, begin to rage - just remember the famous forest trolls! So all the monsters that are still preserved in their original form in the northern country descend from the mountains to take possession of the souls of ordinary mortals. What do the Norwegians do, who do not want to fall into the clutches of sorcerers and witches? Everything is very simple! The inhabitants of the country consider the best protection from evil spirits ... the absence of brooms. Therefore, on Christmas Eve, you will not find a single broom in Norway. By the way, apparently, a magical method works - in Norway, not a single witch attack on a person has been officially recorded.