Two thousand euros for the winning pair: the Teguise Envite Challenge is back, five weeks around the municipality's centres

Some heritage sits in museums and some sits on a bar table. Envite is the second kind: the Canarian card game, learned by watching the grown-ups play long before you understand the rules, built on partnerships, signals between teammates and bets called out loud.

Teguise council has built a championship on top of it, and after the success of the first edition it is doing it again: the 2nd Desafío Envite de Teguise runs from 16 October to 20 November.

How it works

• The competition tours the municipality's socio-cultural centres: it is played in different villages, not at a single venue.
• The format is a league, so one lost hand does not send you home.
• Entries are open.

The prizes

This is not a token tournament: the champion pair takes 2,000 euros in cash, with prizes for the other places too.

Why the council cares

Mayor Olivia Duque puts it plainly: 'Envite is a vital part of our popular culture. These gatherings always bring together family, friends and neighbours. We want to keep this beautiful Canarian custom alive.'

Councillor Andoni Machín adds the other half of the argument, less romantic and just as true: by moving the tournament around the villages, the socio-cultural centres stay living places rather than halls locked six days out of seven.

It is intangible heritage in the most literal sense: you do not preserve it by putting it behind glass, you preserve it only by carrying on playing.