How People Played in Village Squares

Traditionally, village squares were meeting places where people played games such as pelota (wall ball) against a frontón (ball-game wall), bolos (skittles), calva (a wooden-target throwing game), rana (a frog-target tossing game) and chito (a coin-and-peg throwing game). These spaces were social hubs for all ages, bringing together children’s pastimes such as escondite (hide-and-seek) and adults’ games of accuracy and strength.

Adults’ games

Throwing and target games ruled the square: bolos in its many regional forms, calva in Castile, and chito, also known as tanga, with coins balanced on a wooden peg. People played in teams, and there was always a crowd watching.

Pelota

In many villages, the church or town hall wall served as a frontón. Pelota a mano (handball) is a particularly strong tradition in the north, but it was played in many regions.

Children’s games

Corros (circle games), comba (skipping), pañuelo (a snatch-the-handkerchief game), marro (prisoner’s base), escondite. We look back at them in playground games that disappeared.

And as evening fell

Once the games in the square were over, many people headed to the bar or the casino (village social club) for a game of cards. We explore this in village social clubs. For more games from days gone by, read forgotten traditional Spanish games.