SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alla Serebrianskaia, Marta de Francisco, Sara Lao and Laura Llorca, Asensi Abogados
juego ) on gambling advertising for lack of sufficient legal basis and proportionality, the Spanish govern- ment introduced the Draft General Law on Customer Services. This forthcoming law seeks to reintroduce most of the restrictions voided by the Supreme Court and will also amend the Gambling Act, most notably Article 22.1, by adding a new paragraph (d) establishing the Gam- ing Providers Registry. This new registry will serve as an official database of gambling service providers operating in Spain, reinforcing transparency and con- trol over entities involved in the provision or promotion of gambling activities. Further details on this aspect can be found in 9.4 Restrictions on Advertising . Draft Royal Decree on Joint Deposit Limits A new Draft Royal Decree – currently undergoing the EU TRIS notification process – proposes amend- ments to Royal Decree 1614/2011 of 14 November ( Real Decreto 1614/2011, de 14 de noviembre, por el que se desarrolla la Ley 13/2011, de 27 de mayo, de regulación del juego, en lo relativo a licencias, autorizaciones y registros del juego ), which imple- ments the Gambling Act 13/2011, in order to intro- duce a joint deposit limit system per player designed to complement the existing individual deposit limits. Under this new framework, the DGOJ will manage a centralised technical system that monitors the total amount deposited by each player across all licensed operators. The proposed limits are EUR700 per day, EUR1,750 per week, and EUR3,300 per four weeks, although players will be able to voluntarily reduce or modify these thresholds. The system aims to strengthen play- er protection by preventing excessive deposits among users with multiple accounts and ensuring consistent supervision directly by the regulator. In addition, the draft decree updates the amount of the financial guarantees required for licences and introduces new provisions on data protection and electronic communications between operators and the DGOJ.
The latest version of the draft incorporates the com- ments issued by the Spanish National Commission on Markets and Competition ( Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia , or CNMC) and the EC during the consultation process and is now being reviewed under the EU TRIS (Technical Regulations Information System) procedure, with its publication in the Spanish Official Gazette expected in 2026. Strengthening of responsible gambling measures As part of the broader strategy to strengthen player protection and promote safer gambling environments, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, through the DGOJ, has introduced a Draft Resolution establishing mandatory technical specifications for new responsible gambling warnings in all gambling-related commercial communications. This initiative is grounded in the objectives of Law 13/2011 on Gambling Regulation, which seeks to ensure legal certainty, protect public interests, and prevent addictive behaviour, as well as in Royal Decree 958/2020 on gambling advertising. Specifi- cally, Articles 10 and 11 of the Royal Decree empower the DGOJ to define mandatory warnings concerning the harmful effects of gambling addiction and to set out the corresponding format, size, and presentation requirements. Under the new Draft Resolution, currently subject to public consultation until 26 November 2025, opera- tors will be required to include clear and standard- ised messages in all advertising materials, replacing the existing “play responsibly” notice. The purpose is to shift from self-regulatory appeals to messages explicitly warning of the risks associated with gam- bling behaviour. The approved warning messages, based on statistical data compiled over the past ten years, include the following options: • “Gambling addiction is a risk of gambling.”“The probability of being a player who loses money is 75%.” • “The total losses of all players exceed their win- nings by four times.”For smaller physical adver- tising formats, a shorter version may be used: “Gambling is a risk.”
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