15 Oct

Gambling News

The president of DGOJ advises opponents of Spanish gaming regulations to "know your limits."

Put Donald Trump and the US midterms out of your mind because political bets are being made in Spain, where everyone seems to be in combat mode. 

Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, called a snap election last week after his housing policies were rejected by Congress, putting the changing housing situation at the center of the decision-making process. 

Sánchez wins his third election as prime minister by rolling the dice once more. In order to carry out his mission to impose new federal controls on Spanish housing and eviction rules, Spain's premier aims to fortify the Socialist Party, PSOE, standing in a precarious alliance. 

However, PSOE support is divided because the Catalan party Junts joined VOX nationalists and Spain's Conservative Party PP to oppose the proposals. Sánchez's bet might end up being a huge mistake that allows PP and VOX to create a coalition administration. 

In the midst of political turmoil, Sánchez is not the only person defending his record.

Mikel Arana, Director General of the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), defended the much-maligned regulator against criticism of how it has handled the implementation of important regulatory projects today at the Gaming in Spain conference in Madrid. 

As the primary authority of the government's Royal Decree on Gambling Environments, Arana specifically sought to correct the record about the application of the nation's universal deposit system on online gambling licenses.

While continuing to work on the broader revision of the Gambling Act, Arana emphasized that the DGOJ remained dedicated to tightening the conduct and controls controlling Spain's licensed online gambling companies in collaboration with Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Arana cited three regulatory initiatives that have already been approved and published: requirements to confirm that payment methods belong to the registered gambling-account holder; mandatory risk warnings in gambling advertising; and the introduction of joint deposit limits across operators under Royal Decree 520/2026.

"Already, three regulatory efforts have received official approval and publication. "The fourth one is in the last phase of processing," he said.

"We are still fully committed to presenting the reform proposal before the end of the legislative term."

Recognize your boundaries
The DGOJ's efforts to improve player security include the central deposit-limit system and the suggested gambling-risk detection algorithm, which impose intricate technical restrictions on Spain's regulated online market.

After six months of technical testing and integration, the joint limits—which are set at €700 per day, €1,750 per week, and €3,300 over four weeks—will be put into effect on March 25, 2027. 

Arana cautioned those present about the operators' lack of progress in connecting to the system, saying, "It is surprising that at this stage operators have still not effectively and generally connected to the system."

"It is the responsibility of each operator to determine the best time to undertake these adaptations as a duty of licenses; the time available to complete the necessary technical adaptation is progressively decreasing." 

The market is unrestricted
After his regulatory update, Arana provided an overview of the DGOJ's evaluation of Spain's online gambling advertising system since 2020, outlining the data supporting its suggested amendment to the Gambling Act.

His main contention was that while the regulated market continued to expand, stricter advertising regulations had altered operators' business tactics. 

No widespread market closures or operator exclusion were found during the assessment. Rather, advertising spending moved to digital platforms, which by 2025 made up about "80% of recorded advertising investment, while businesses placed greater emphasis on retention and reactivation."

Additionally, Arana criticized the iGaming trade group Jdigital for not aggressively contributing to the early phases of the Gambling Act revisions' formulation, claiming that this was the time when industry contributions could have had the biggest impact.

"To be honest, I'm shocked that Jdigital didn't actively contribute to the early phases of any legislative initiative's formulation.

"It is a well-known fact that the ability of various stakeholders to exert influence is particularly important in the early phases of drafting a regulation, when there is still room to discuss regulatory alternatives," he stated.

Regarding channelization, Arana argued that historically, a comparatively tiny portion of known deposits had come from illicit gaming. Its "share remained below 2.3% for several half-year periods," according to the evaluation he gave. 

Therefore, the DGOJ's evaluation refuted assertions that stricter advertising regulations inevitably push clients to unlicensed businesses. 

DGOJ desires flexible controls.
Arana maintained that evidence gathered over a number of years, including changes after limits were lifted, should be used to evaluate the consequences of legislation.

He came to the conclusion that although the regulated market was still expanding and profitable, more investigation was necessary due to its growing dependency on intensive spending.

He said, "The business model consists of increasing spending, not necessarily the number of players."

According to Arana, "dedicated protections for Spain's new generation of consumers"—the efficacy of commercial incentives among young adults (under 24s)—must be addressed in the next phase of legislation.

"Among those who are just starting out in the market, search and marketing stimuli are especially effective, and this is where preventive regulation finds principal justifications."