Village casinos: social clubs and card games

The casinos found in many Spanish towns and villages were social clubs or members’ societies, not the gambling venues we associate with the word today. People went there to meet up, read the papers, hold dances and enjoy a game of cards or dominoes.

A social club

From the 19th century onwards, casinos, clubs and cultural societies sprang up in almost every place with a sizeable population. Members paid a subscription and had access to a reading room, café and games rooms. Some villages had several clubs side by side: one for farmers, another for traders…

Cards at the casino

The gaming tables were at the heart of everyday life. People played Tute (a Spanish trick-taking card game), Mus (a Spanish partnership card game), Guiñote (a Spanish trick-taking card game) or dominoes, with regular partners and tournaments during local festivities. We look back on this in the culture of village card games.

More than games

Casinos organised dances, talks, open-air festivities and even plays. Many of the buildings survive and still serve as cultural centres.

A word that changed

Over time, ‘casino’ came to mean, above all, a gambling house. We prefer the older meaning: somewhere to meet up and play with no money involved. We explain this in why we are not a casino.