Caught with their pants down and wearing face masks, U.S. President Donald Trump and his challenger Joe Biden are the stars of a new range of defecating figurines that are a longstanding Christmas tradition in the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Known as "caganers" or "poopers" in English, the small statues offer a satirical take on the year's biggest news stories and are traditionally hidden in nativity scenes for friends and family to find.

Masked health workers who have become emblematic of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, also feature prominently in the 2020 Christmas lineup alongside the presidential hopefuls.

"In these four years Trump has been an excellent caganer, I mean excellent in terms of sales," said caganer artisan Marc Alos, 49, from his workshop in the small Mediterranean town of Toroella de Montgri.

Such was the popularity of the Trump figure in the run-up to the 2016 elections that Alos felt certain he would take the White House, despite polls pointing to a Hillary Clinton victory.

"We said that the day before the U.S. elections, and he won."

With another fraught vote looming, Biden appears to have the edge in pooper sales but Alos said it is still early to make any election night predictions: "We are at the very beginning and Joe Biden is working a little better for us, but I don't know how this will evolve."