SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alla Serebrianskaia, Marta de Francisco, Sara Lao and Laura Llorca, Asensi Abogados
• not properly informing the public about the pro- hibition on participation or access for minors and persons included in the General Game Access Interdiction Register; • a lack of mandatory information being provided from the operator to players; and • the participation from Spain, through the use of Spanish territorial IP address-masking techniques, in gambling activities offered through websites other than those legally authorised by gambling operators with a licence in Spain. 3.6 Penalties for Unlawful Gambling Unlawful gambling is classified as a very serious infraction at both a federal and regional level. Unlawful gambling is sanctioned under the Gambling Act with a fine of between EUR1 million and EUR50 million. In addition to the fine, the regulator is entitled to: • revoke the licence of the entity carrying out the unlawful gambling; • disqualify it from carrying out gambling activities for a maximum of four years; or • close the media through which information society services were delivered and that supported the unlawful gambling activities. Each regional gaming regulation – both online and land-based – approves its own sanctioning regime; however, in most of them, unlawful gaming is sanc- tioned with a fine of up to EUR600,000. In addition to the fine, regulators are entitled to revoke the licence or to impose a temporary removal of the licence for a maximum of five years.
years and under the Ministry of Finance before that). At the federal level, it is competent to: • issue federal licences; • draft regulation; • supervise games; and • supervise the enforcement and sanctioning of gambling activities. The regulatory authorities for regional gambling – both online and land-based – depend on each autonomous region. These authorities are usually under the umbrel- la of the relevant regional departments of finance or the interior. 4.2 Regulatory Approach Before discussing the approach to gambling regulation in Spain, a differentiation should be made between: • regulation at a federal level, which only refers to online gambling; and • regulation at a regional level, which includes both online and land-based gambling. Online Gambling Online gambling can be offered at a federal or regional level. Customarily, entities apply for federal licences, since this way they can offer online gambling in the whole territory without having to apply for licences at a regional level. The aim of the Gambling Act is to regulate all those types of games that take place at a federal level in order to protect public order, combat fraud, prevent addictive behaviour, protect minors and safeguard players’ rights, without affecting what is established in the regional regulations. To offer online gambling in Spain at a federal level, entities must obtain a general licence for each cat- egory of game (betting, contest or other games) and a single licence for each type of game included in its
4. Licensing and Regulatory Framework 4.1 Regulatory Authority
The regulatory authority for online gambling at the federal level is the DGOJ. Since November 2023, this authority has been put under the umbrella of the new Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 (prior to this, it was under the umbrella of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for almost four
general licence category. Land-Based Gambling
The regulatory approach to land-based gambling is based on the licensing or authorisation regime approved by each autonomous region. The require-
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