baraja

Baraja is the Spanish term for a deck of playing cards and the set of cards used for various games. In most contexts it refers to the baraja española, the standard deck in Spain and many Latin American countries, though regional variants exist. A typical baraja española has four suits: oros, copas, espadas, and bastos. Each suit contains ten cards: 1 through 7 and 10 through 12. The 8 and 9 are omitted in the 40-card version. The three court cards are Sota (jack), Caballo (knight), and Rey (king). In some versions a 48-card deck is used, which includes the 8 and 9.

Baraja is used for numerous traditional games, such as Brisca, Tute, and Mus in various regions, as well as Truco in Argentina and Uruguay. While rules and rankings vary by country, the shared deck structure supports most play in the Spanish-speaking world. Regional preferences also include variants such as the baraja catalana, a local deck used in parts of Catalonia and surrounding areas.

Historically, playing cards entered Europe in the late Middle Ages and were adapted to Iberian traditions, giving rise to the baraja española. The Spanish deck spread to the Americas through colonial networks, where it remains widely used in both casual and competitive settings. Outside gaming, baraja can also refer more generally to a deck of cards or to certain cartomancy practices that employ a standard deck for fortune-telling, though these uses vary culturally.