But when Non Sit Peccatum, a sex shop in the town of Talavera de la Reina near Toledo chose to display sex toys depicting the iconic biblical scene, it caused somewhat of fuss.

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Shop owner Héctor Valdivielso commissioned an artist to paint the figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus on ceramic dildos.

At first, the display proved popular and people would pause outside to take photos of the unusual nativity scene.

But it wasn’t long before it started to draw negative attention and the owner was subjected to angry outbursts by people claiming to be offended.

“A man with his wife ordered me to remove the offending scene and said that if I didn’t he would remove it himself,” Valdivielso recounted on his Facebook account, adding that he was subject to a barrage of insults and had to call the police.

Next the shop sign was vandalised with the word ‘pecadores’  – sinners – and the owner discovered a group calling themselves the Children of the Virgin Mary had launched a boycott on the store.

One day a crowd of around a dozen people gathered outside the shop to harangue customers.

“It was affecting my business,” explained Valdivielso. “Who wants to come to a store like this to hear a sermon?”.

Last week, he withdrew the window display and replaced it with a poster inviting passersby to vote on whether he should reinstate it.

The public overwhelmingly voted for its return, with 78.5 percent of the 988 people who responded, insisting it should be displayed.

“People asked me not to give in to blackmail,” Valdivielso said. “So it’s going back in the window”.