Andorra Shopkeeper Wins Nativity Contest with Humble Family Crèche

Carles Magdaleno Tressera, a 76-year-old shopkeeper originally from Terrassa who has lived in Andorra since age 23, has won a nativity scene contest organised by Stella Mons with a modest display at his liquor store, Cava Benito.

The winning crèche, crafted by his late son-in-law's father, Lúcio Sánchez, features handmade clay figurines left unpainted. "When you look at it, you think 'this is nothing much'," Magdaleno Tressera said, "but art doesn't have to be spectacular or ostentatious to be expressive. It's a simple nativity scene, but full of meaning, and I always keep it in the shop."

He had not planned to enter the competition but was persuaded to do so. The prize money will go to Autea, an association supporting those in need. "We must back groups that dedicate time and effort to helping others," he added.

For Magdaleno Tressera, the crèche preserves fading traditions. He recalled childhood visits to Barcelona's Santa Llúcia fair, setting up nativity scenes on 13 December and keeping them until Candlemas on 2 February. Today, he builds them with his grandson, who enjoys placing the caganers—traditional Catalan pooing figurines.

Cava Benito, nestled among caves, wines and spirits, also hosts Andorra's most traditional residential nativity scene each year, complete with cork landscapes, mountains and classic figures.

This year marks 70 years for the family business, now in its fourth generation. It opened in 1956 under his wife's godfather, continued by her mother, then Magdaleno Tressera and his wife Maribel, and now their son Jordi.

Originally aspiring to architecture, he began studies but abandoned them amid the unrest of 1970s Spain. National police twice shut down the faculty, and military service exemptions were revoked for those without connections, derailing his plans. He then met Maribel, married, and moved to Andorra. "You never know where life will take you or what you'll end up doing," he reflected.