The Spanish Ministry for Consumer Affairs has set out plans for a player protection increase and an overall tightening of gambling regulations following changes made in 2020.
This means an enforcement of new advertising restrictions plus some changes to the fees that licensees have to pay for regulation.
The key priorities for 2021 include prevention, action, and intervention, alongside a program of raising awareness and safeguarding players. Legislation to support these priorities is being developed with the Responsible Gaming Advisory Council. This will be made from a selection of people including civil servants, academics, lawmakers, and gaming operators.
Initial restrictions for Spain were announced in January 2020. These swathe introduction of controls on the advertising of gambling products similar to those we see in the tobacco industry.
Adverts were initially limited to only being shown on radio and television between 1 AM and 5 AM. Sports sponsorships with gambling operators were also ordered to come to a close following the end of the 2020/21 season.
An additional focus will be the integration of self-exclusion registers to create a national one. At the moment, each of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions has its own self-exclusion register. There is a separate national register, but there are many calls for the creation of an integrated national register that players are automatically placed on when registering for self-exclusion in their area.
These changes will hopefully help to bring about a player protection increase that will make the Spanish markets much easier for players to navigate safely.
