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The history of the company Tot Ideas S.L. begins in the late 19th century. In 1894, an 18-year-old Catalan named Agapito Borràs Pedemonte, a native of Calella in the Maresme region of Catalonia, invented an unusual hygrometer – a figurine of a monk that predicts the weather, known as El Fraile del Tiempo (“The Weather Friar”). The first versions of this “weather monk” were handmade by Borràs as gifts for his friends, but the invention soon caught the attention of enterprising businessmen from Arenys de Mar. They persuaded the young inventor to begin commercial production of the device for a fee of 80 pesetas – thus marking the beginning of what would become one of the most iconic toy brands in Spain. Around 1906, Borràs relocated to the coastal city of Mataró to take advantage of Spain’s first railway line between Barcelona and Mataró and established a family business there, the forerunner of today’s Tot Ideas S.L. From the very beginning, the company focused on the production of original toys and curiosities. The Fraile del Tiempo became its first bestseller, thanks to its simplicity and visual appeal: a monk with a hood pointing a stick at a vertical column, indicating the forecast for the next 24 hours – from “dry” to “rainy” – using a mechanism sensitive to air humidity. The success of this device laid the foundation for the Borràs brand and stimulated the expansion of their product line.
Riding on the popularity of the Fraile, the Borràs family workshop introduced new creations. By 1912, the company had launched one of the first flat puzzles in Spain, ahead of its time in the genre of logic games. The firm gained wider renown under the second generation, when Agapito’s son, Enric Borràs Trulls, took over in the 1920s. In 1933, he introduced what would become the firm’s most famous product: the magic set Magia Borràs, a box of accessories for performing card and hand tricks. The set became an instant success and would turn into a cultural staple for several generations of Spanish children. Enric’s eldest son, Manuel Borràs, recognized the potential of the product and named it after the family – Magia Borràs – thus creating one of the most recognizable toy brands in Spain. By the mid-20th century, the family company, now known simply as Juguetes Borràs, had established itself as a major player in the Spanish games and toy market.
The third generation carried the business forward. Manuel Borràs, grandson of the founder, formally restructured the company with his wife Teresa Plana (herself from a toy-making family), creating the corporation Borràs Plana, S.A. which operated under this name until the early 2000s. Their son, Enric Borràs Paluzié – great-grandson of Agapito – joined the company and continued the family legacy. In the postwar decades, the firm expanded into board games and educational toys, acquiring licenses for foreign bestsellers. It was Borràs, for example, who introduced Monopoly to Spain in 1981, along with other international hits like Telesketch, Cluedo, and the Tente construction sets. With a history of innovation and an ability to adapt, the Borràs family succeeded in keeping the business competitive and relevant. Magia Borràs, launched in 1933, remained in continuous production for decades, with several anniversary reissues. The company even maintained a private museum and archive in Mataró – the Manuel Borràs Archive – with a collection of games, documents, and factory artifacts. This museum tradition was continued by Enric Borràs Paluzié, who digitized the family archive in the 2000s. By the end of the 20th century, Borràs Plana S.A. was firmly among the leading game and toy manufacturers in Spain.
The 21st century began with a pivotal change. In 2001, Borràs Plana S.A. merged with another major Spanish game producer, Educa Sallent, founded in 1967. The merger was structured as an acquisition of Educa, followed by the creation of the joint company Educa Borràs, S.A., which brought together the brands and portfolios of both firms. The headquarters moved from Mataró to Educa’s base in Sant Quirze del Vallès. The historical name Juguetes Borràs was retained as a product line under Educa Borràs, particularly for family games, while the Educa brand focused on puzzles and educational items. However, one legendary product – the Fraile del Tiempo – was not included in the merger. The weather friar, which had started it all in 1894, was kept outside the corporate transaction. Its production and distribution continued independently, now managed by the family’s new company in Mataró: Tot Ideas S.L.
Since 2001, Tot Ideas S.L. has been the custodian of the original family invention. Headed by Enric Borràs Paluzié, great-grandson of the founder, the company proudly positions itself as the direct heir of the Borràs legacy dating back to 1894. Tot Ideas remains a small, family-run manufacturer and distributor of toys and gifts, with the Fraile del Tiempo as its flagship product. Production is still artisanal – each monk figure is handmade, and the sensitive component inside (reportedly a specially treated natural hair) reacts to changes in humidity, moving the monk’s arm and hood. The design has remained faithful to the historical figure: a seated Franciscan monk with a globe and open book at his feet, whose left arm indicates the forecast on a vertical scale. Over the decades, more than 40 variations of the device were produced, including limited editions featuring a nun, a medieval knight, Christopher Columbus, and even brand mascots like the Kina San Clemente friar from a 1960s drink advertisement. Today, Tot Ideas sells approximately 40,000 weather friars annually, mainly in Spain, but also in France, Italy, Portugal, and other countries. In 2022, for the 128th anniversary of the invention, the company launched a modernized line called Fraile Colors, updating the visual style while preserving the classic mechanism. Despite changes over time, Tot Ideas S.L. remains one of the few toy companies in Spain to have stayed within the same family for over four generations. The Borràs legacy, born in 1894 from a handmade weather toy, evolved into a major national brand and ultimately returned to its roots as a small-scale heritage workshop, still celebrating the enduring charm of Catalan ingenuity.
