The sector is not being consulted on policy changes being enforced in Spain, general director for industry trade body JDigital Jorge Hinojosa has told iGB.
Last week the Spanish government imposed a new policy requiring online gambling operators to present tobacco-style warnings across their products, alerting players to the dangers of gambling addiction and the likelihood of losing money.
Speaking to iGB, Hinojosa said the body had found out about the new policy in the media. It was not included in any discussions with the regulator before the announcement by Minister for Social Rights Pablo Bustinduy at a safer gambling event on 1 October.
“The only thing we know is the Ministry for Consumer Affairs said last week ‘we are going to implement these new measures’ but said nothing about how the resolution [would be included in the law].
“They didn’t share any proposal with the sector, so we are exactly like you, reading about it in the media,” he adds.
No clear timeline for tobacco-style warnings introduction
When asked when the tobacco–style warnings must be introduced by operators, Hinojosa says there has been no clear response from the regulator.
““This is not really [made clear] by the regulator. We don’t know exactly what it’s about. We would like, once again, a solid impact analysis.”
According to the government’s announcement, the rule was implemented into Spain’s gambling laws as part of the Royal Decree 958/2020, which covers marketing and gambling communications.
It also noted the influence of recent addiction data as justification for the measure. The data was published by the Spanish Ministry for Health in 2024 and formed part of the country’s National Drug Plan.
But Hinojosa questioned the relevance of the data, noting: “[Looking at addiction statistics] and the gambling problem across the consumer, it’s not really a bigger problem than before,” he says.
“The data for addiction among students is similar over the last four or five years. It is concerning for us, of course, but it’s not really a bigger or different problem than before.”
Return of strict ad measures expected in Spain
Policy makers in Spain are considering further player protection measures, including restoring a previously withdrawn ban on the use of celebrities in gambling advertising.
The minister said this was currently being processed through the Spanish Congress and he did not offer a timeframe for the measure to be reinstated.
Hinojosa tells iGB that up to five policies from the original Royal Decree 958/2020, which heavily restricted gambling marketing back in 2020, are being reconsidered by the government.
These regulations sought to reduce minors’ exposure to gambling advertising in Spain by banning aspects such as sponsorship deals with operators.
The Decree was approved by the Supreme Court in November 2020, but a number of measures were overturned in 2024.
Other stakeholders have speculated that the full scope of restrictions could be reinforced in the short to medium term, including watersheds for TV and radio advertising and welcome bonuses for new customers.
“Big changes in regulation must be strongly grounded in empirical evidence and temporal sequences, rather than political decisions driven by impulse, intuition, or the partial interpretation of a single data point,” he says of the government’s overall approach to gambling reform.
““It is [difficult] to understand why there are so many regulations to protect the player, then who protects the gambling market?”
But Hinojosa says there is no indication of a timeline for these policies to be debated, due to the current political instability in Spain.
In June, the organisational secretary of the Spanish Prime Minister’s Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) resigned on corruption claims and the prime minister himself has faced opposition calls to resign over the scandal which extends to others within the party.
No threat of gambling tax increase in Spain
One challenge that Hinojosa does not expect the Spanish sector to face is that of increasing tax rates. Governments across the UK and Netherlands and further afield to Latvia and Romania are considering or are already implementing tax increases for the sector.
But Hinojosa says Spain has not had a budget session in the last two years and is not expected to have one in 2025, meaning any potential tax rise is not on the cards in the short term.
“We do not expect any change to the tax system,” he tells iGB. “It would be another blow to the investments and the innovation that the sector brings to the country, whether the government likes it or not.”
JDigital director Jorge Hinojosa says Spain’s sector is safe from any gambling tax rise in the short to medium-term.