5. Olentzero - The Big Benevolent Basque!
Most autonomous communities locked in the vice-like grip of a larger, more affluent Mother Nation tend to find ways of highlighting elements of their culture that distinguish them from the rest of the country they dislike being a part of. In some cases these manifest themselves in traditional costumes, terrorist factions, or even a completely different language sometimes; and Basque Country in Northern Spain is no different. Especially at Christmas! Oh sure everybody there knows the ubiquitous fat bloke in a red suit but hes either helped or usurped by a very different gift-bearer: Olentzero the beret-wearing Basque giant. So where did he come from? Well, Basque villages cant even agree on his name so a definitive origin story would be little ambitious. There is one story thats particularly fun, though. Olentzero is the last of a great race of Basque giants who, millennia ago, were startled by a very, very bright cloud in the sky. (Oxymoron but go with it.) So bright was the cloud that only one very old, very blind geriatric giant could look directly at it and divine what it meant. Shortly afterwards he turned to the other giants and told them to throw him off a cliff because Christianity was on its way and he wasnt going to stick around to be Christianised by a bunch of botherers. The other giants came to the fastest group consensus since Mary and Joseph, living in an ultra-conservative society, decided Marys pregnancy was definitely, and immaculately, caused by an angel. So off they trotted towards the cliff and went to throw the olGiant over but, being giants, they were stupid enough to all fall over with him. All except the, either slower or smarter, Olentzero who has seen fit to celebrate the following years with gifts for all the little Basque children.