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Spain’s most senior gambling regulator is promising tougher measures and the return of an advertising ban defeated in the Supreme Court, arguing that the industry makes too much profit from its highest spending players.
Mikel Arana, the director general of the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), said that gambling in Spain is “very very unbalanced”.
He referred to statistics showing that 30 percent of industry profits come from 1 percent of players, something he vowed to change through tighter regulations.
Arana was speaking on Monday (January 20) at the World Regulatory Briefing as part of the ICE gambling conference in Barcelona, and later at a satellite event run by law firm DLA Piper.
He pointed the finger at gambling advertising, in particular how readily available it is to young people, as a key factor in this revenue “imbalance”.
Spain introduced harsh advertising restrictions via a royal decree in 2020, but many of its provisions were successfully challenged in the Supreme Court, which ruled that changes to primary legislation were needed to give the prohibition sufficient legal weight.
Arana has pledged to do just that and worked last year with members of Congress to introduce relevant amendments, but he indicated the lawmaking timeline from here is uncertain.
The DGOJ also plans to introduce mandatory cross-operator deposit limits by the start of 2026, and has been studying the system currently live in Germany for inspiration.
He also revealed that staff at the regulator are working on crafting an algorithm to help operators identify markers of harm and intervene to prevent problem gambling.
Once ready, estimated to be in two or more years, the algorithm will become mandatory for every licensed operator.
“It’s so based on data that no one will be able to say it is a political decision,” he said. “These steps are vital for protecting players and retaining public trust.”
These new measures, and a return to advertising limits, would add to an existing royal decree on player protection, the final elements of which come into effect in March.
Asked by a lawyer from DLA Piper if the regulator would open the market to new licence applicants via a new tender window, Arana dismissed the idea.
He pointed to eight licences, out of a total of 71 that have been issued, which are lying dormant. If a new operator wanted to enter the Spanish market, it could simply buy one of the companies sitting on an unused licence, he argued.
Arana also echoed recent calls from several international regulators for operators to be more cautious about B2B companies they do business with.
Licensed companies should not work with affiliates that advertise both licensed and unlicensed operators or with suppliers who sell to the black market, he said.
“Right now we cannot fine for those kinds of activities, but we are thinking about it,” he said, before adding that he would prefer operators in the market to take corrective actions themselves to avoid additional regulations.
“Claiming that an operator cannot know to whom a supplier supplies games is something tantamount to self-deception,” Arana said.
