The secret behind one of the world’s favourite board games is hiding in a small Spanish bar

Order a drink in this quiet corner of Nerja and you might be sitting exactly where a billion-dollar idea was born, though almost nobody who walks in ever asks about it.

A holiday villa turned creative workshop

Back in the winter of 1980, Canadian sports journalists Scott Abbott and Chris Haney spent several months living in a property in the El Capistrano urbanisation of Nerja, owned by Haney’s family. Having quit their jobs in Montreal, they set out to build a trivia-based board game inspired by their love of, and the huge success of Scrabble.

Long days went into drafting thousands of questions and answers, testing rules and refining a concept that, at the time, seemed too risky to attract serious backers.

La Cueva, the bar that believed in them

The pair had a favourite meeting spot outside of the villa, a bar called La Cueva, in El Capistrano. It was here, over drinks and conversation, that they pitched their idea to anyone willing to listen, hoping to raise the cash needed to bring it to life.

According to several accounts of the game’s history, this modest bar delivered one of the earliest crucial breaks. It’s owner, an expat known locally as Phil Donneson, chose to invest when almost nobody else saw the potential, a decision that would later prove remarkably lucrative once the game took off worldwide.

From Nerja to worldwide phenomenon

Official launch came in 1982 at New York’s International Toy Fair, kicking off years of steady growth for a game partly dreamt up on Spanish soil. Sales have since topped an unbelievable 100 million copies, with translations into numerous languages and distribution in dozens of countries. Countless themed editions covering films, TV shows, historical events and music have followed.

A local theory behind those famous wedge-shaped tokens

Trivial Pursuit’s circular board and instantly recognisable tokens fill up as players answer correctly across six categories, Geography, Arts and Literature, History, Entertainment, Science and Nature, and Sports and Leisure.

One charming, if unconfirmed, local theory suggests the wedge design may have taken inspiration from the railing of Nerja’s Balcon de Europa. The game’s creators have never officially confirmed this connection.

Different owners but still running

Good news for curious travellers who love the game. The bar is still very much open. Now trading as Cave Bar (older references still call it Bar La Cueva)

Ownership has changed hands since Phil Donneson’s day. He ran the place for decades after opening it in June 1974, but by the mid-2010s it had passed to fellow expat Nigel Jones, a long-time family friend, who kept the cave-themed decor and cosy, sociable atmosphere that first drew Haney and Abbott through the door. Phil himself stayed on in Nerja for the rest of his life, largely avoiding the spotlight despite his unlikely role in gaming history.

Don’t expect a shrine to Trivial Pursuit inside, though. Beyond word of mouth and the odd mention on review sites, there’s little visible memorabilia marking the connection, a collection of unreleased prototype boards Phil once won in a company raffle reportedly went missing in transit and never made it back to Spain.

Now, you can keep your fingers crossed a question about where trivial pursuit was born comes up in your local quiz night.