SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alla Serebrianskaia, Marta de Francisco, Sara Lao and Laura Llorca, Asensi Abogados
Each autonomous region individually approves sanc- tions for regional land-based and online gambling. 9.4 Restrictions on Advertising Key Legislation The current legislation applicable to the advertising of gambling operators – and their products – is as follows: • the General Advertising Act 34/1988 dated 11 November 1988; • Royal Decree 958/2020 dated 3 November 2020 on commercial communications for gambling activities; • the Unfair Competition Act 3/1991 dated 10 Janu- ary 1991; • Legislative Royal Decree 1/2007 dated 16 Novem- ber 2007, approving the recast text of the General Act for the Defence of the Consumers and Users and other complementary laws; • the Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce Act 34/2002 dated 11 July 2002; • the General Audiovisual Communications Act 13/2022 dated 7 July 2022; • the Gambling Act 13/2011 dated 27 May 2011; • regional gambling regulations for land-based and online gambling at a regional level; and • the Code of Conduct Regarding Commercial Com- munications of Gambling Activities issued by Auto- control (the Association for Advertising Self-regula- tion), in collaboration with the DGOJ, although this is only binding for companies that adhere to it. The Spanish advertising framework is currently under review following the Supreme Court’s Ruling 527/2024 and pending legislative reforms, which are expected to further refine operators’ obligations in terms of transparency, consumer protection and responsible advertising. In this regard, the DGOJ is also finalising a new Reso- lution on responsible gambling warnings, which will establish the mandatory inclusion of standardised messages about gambling risks in all commercial communications. As discussed in 1.1 Current Outlook and Recent Changes , this measure replaces the pre- vious “play responsibly” notice with evidence-based warnings developed under Articles 10 and 11 of Royal
Decree 958/2020, further reinforcing transparency and consumer protection in gambling advertising. Restrictions On 25 May 2024, the Supreme Court’s Ruling 527/2024 on the appeal made against Royal Decree 958/2020 on commercial communications of gambling activities was published in the Spanish Official Gazette. This ruling annulled several key restrictions that had previously limited operators’ marketing activities. Spe- cifically, the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court concluded that several limitations and prohibi- tions established in the regulation lacked a sufficient legal basis and, in some cases, infringed the principle of proportionality in relation to the freedom of enter- prise. In particular, the following restrictions have been lifted: • prohibition on offering welcome bonuses and restrictions on advertising and offering promotions; • prohibition on appearance of well-known people/ celebrities in advertising; • prohibition on the display of commercial communi- cations through information society services; • gambling advertising restrictions on accounts/ channels on video-sharing platforms (although such restrictions on video-sharing platforms were voided by the ruling, the General Audiovisual Com- munication Act already refers to this restriction, so this requirement will remain in place); and • restriction on the targeting rules for addressing gambling advertising on online social networks, and gambling advertising restrictions on accounts/ channels on such networks. In response, the Spanish government is seeking to reinstate most of these restrictions through the forth- coming General Law on Customer Services, which will amend the Gambling Act and other regulatory provi- sions. The draft law is currently in the final stage of its passage through Parliament and is expected to be published in the coming months. The most important restriction is that gambling prod- ucts can only be advertised by licensed operators.
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