For our none-native, English speakers, when you say that something is ‘on the cards,’ it means that it is foreseeable and almost inevitable, but what happened in a bar in Almuñécar, during a game of cards, was certainly ‘not on the cards,’ and is a reminder that disaster stands behind just about any quotidian gesture or action.

A group of men were playing a very popular Spanish card game in a bar in Almuñécar – a scene that is present in just about every Spanish town and village. The game was el paulo, which is very popular on the Costa Tropical and in Eastern Andalucia in general. The game is played in pairs and requires a lot of ‘intuition’ and reading body talk between partners.

It’s not completely clear what exactly happened, but at one point somebody jokingly pushed another person off his seat, causing him to fall, bringing his stool down on him – an unfortunate blow to the temple, leaving a man in his 30’s senseless and in a bad state. He was rushed to the area hospital in Motril, but was soon moved to the intensive-care unit at the main hospital in Granada, where he remains very seriously ill.

Despite the fact that most people agree that both the victim and the ‘aggressor’ are honest and respected members of the community, the Guardia Civil arrested the latter before releasing him, pending more information on the injuries of the victim, who has remained in a critical state for at least a week.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Andalucia)