The Spanish Senate has approved a complete overhaul of the country’s Gambling Law of 2011.
New advertising rules to be introduced as part of reform package
Earlier this week, members of the Senate voted in favour of the move by a vote of 146 with 113 abstentions. The vote was held following a proposal to “improve controls on sports manipulations, betting fraud and expand protections for problem gamblers.”
The Spanish gambling regulator DGOJ will now be allowed to operate a global betting market research service that entails a database of individuals who are known to be involved in illegal betting activity or gambling related fraud.
The vote will also allow new customer safeguards to be introduced including the approval of proposed advertising rules relating to gambling products and services. These new rules will require that all gambling ads are socially responsible with any that are deemed inappropriate by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs prohibited.
Customer safeguards include a requirement that all operators ensure that any users are properly notified of any safer gambling resources and information. This should includes detailed information on self-exclusion options and problem gambling support.
New player limits will be introduced for online casino and slots. These can be determined by the user but cannot be changed more than once in a 24 hour period.
Online slots will no longer be allowed to feature buttons that encourage further gambling with language such as ‘play again’ or ‘one more time’.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs will now move to establish a ‘National Registry for Self-Exclusion‘.
One proposed change that failed to make it into the reform package was an increased tax rate of 30% for all gambling businesses.
Gambling industry journalist with a background in online poker and trading. Covering the regulated U.S Sports industry and the exciting world of online poker.