Spain’s tahurerías: the gambling houses of old

Tahurerías were gambling houses that, in medieval Castile, came to be regulated by the Crown, which collected fees from them. Although they were eventually banned, they continued operating in secret for centuries under other names, such as garitos.

Gambling with rules

In the Middle Ages, there were even written rules for tahurerías: which games could be played, at what times, and what punishments awaited anyone who cheated or blasphemed. At first, dice games predominated; playing cards came later. Take a look at the games of medieval Spain.

From legal to clandestine

Over time, the authorities began banning these houses because of the problems they caused. But people carried on gambling, now in gambling dens hidden in inns or private homes, run by a keeper known as a garitero.

A setting fit for a novel

Tahurerías and gambling dens inspired many pages of picaresque fiction, with their gamblers and their cheating tricks. A far cry from games in bars or village social clubs, where people played for the pleasure of playing.