Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz gets his first caganer figurine

Winning the Wimbledon competition, one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments, has made Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz write a new chapter in the sport's history. Now, days after, the athlete made it into Catalonia's Walk of Fame stars.

There is not a boulevard full of stars of famous people. Still, the Baix Empordà county company, Caganer.com, specializes in hand-made caganer figurines, a pooping nativity scene figure that is a Catalan Christmas tradition, made its first Carlos Alcaraz figure.

Alcaraz's win against Serbian Novak Djokovic made him the youngest Spanish tennis player to win such a competition. So far, five Spaniards have taken the trophy home, four men and one woman.

Born 20 years ago in the Spanish town of El Palmar, in the Murcian region, Alcaraz currently ranks first in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since late 2022.

The figure sees Carlos Alcaraz wearing all-white, the same outfit worn at London's Wimbledon match on Sunday. He is also holding a tennis racket and a tennis ball on the other hand.

The athlete is "already an acclaimed tennis player despite his youth," Sergi Alós, from the Caganer.com company, said in a statement.

"Years ago, it was Rafael Nadal who was the most talented tennis player, and what he achieved is something incredible. Now, Alcaraz still has all his career ahead of him. His talent makes you believe that he will be able to win many titles and have many victories," he added before explaining that many people had been asking for such a pooping figurine for a long time.

With the launch of this new caganer figurine, the company wants to renovate its sports catalog to have the most famous athletes regardless of the competition they play at. Back in November, ahead of the festivities season, the company unveiled its newest additions, such as Lewandowski, or after the Argentinian World Cup victory, Lionel Messi's holding the World Cup.

One of the other goals is to make Caganers available all year round, and instead of being just a Catalan Christmas tradition, to sell them as souvenirs.

What are caganers?

Caganers are traditional Christmas figurines depicting anyone from traditional peasants to global celebrities, all in the middle of doing a poo.

Caganers, which literally means poopers, have been around since at least the 18th century. It's customary for them to be placed in the nativity scene, along with the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and wise men, and the donkey.

Listen to our Filling the Sink podcast episode from December 2020 to learn more about the Christmas traditions in Catalonia.