Online gambling in Spain
Background
Spain’s road to a regulated online gambling market followed a familiar path to many other EU member states – a period in the early 2000s with no iGaming specific laws and a proliferation of unlicensed operators, before moves to regulate the market. By comparison to other EU member states, Spain’s transition to a regulated market came quite quickly.
In mid 2009, Spanish authorities announced that they will be introducing a regulatory regime and opening the market up to online gambling operators taking an approach consistent with EU law and endorsed by the European Commission (“EC”). This was followed in May 2011 with the passing of the Spanish Gambling Act. The Act established a legal framework for regulating online gambling and created the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) to oversee the industry.
On June 1 2012, Spanish authorities issued their first round of online gambling licenses to offshore based operators. A number of the successful applicants, including William Hill, bet365, Betfair and 888 Casino launched their Spanish ‘.es’ websites within months of receiving their licenses.
Game providers also joined the newly regulated market. In January 2013 Playtech announced its intent to launch a live dealer product tailored to Spanish players and streamed from a local casino – the Casino Gran Madrid. A month later, Evolution Gaming and 888 live casino announced the launch of live casino games for Spanish players streamed from Casino Rincon de Pepe in Murcia.
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In 2022 Evolution expanded its Spanish presence further, opening a purpose built dealer studio in Madrid.
Current Regulations
Governing law for Spain’s current market remains the Spanish Gambling Act of 2011, with the DGOJ responsible for licensing and oversight. Key aspects are summarised below.
- Licensing: A General License is the primary license required for an operator to offer online gambling services to players in Spain. It is valid for 10 years and covers the overall gambling activity. In addition to the general license, operators must obtain Singular Licenses for each type of gambling category they wish to offer (e.g., betting, poker, RNG casino games, live dealer roulette). Singular licenses are valid for five years and can be renewed.
- Permitted remote gambling: A broad range of gambling categories can be offered as long as requisite singular licenses are obtained, including:
– Sports betting: Both fixed-odds and pool betting are permitted. This includes pre-match and in-play betting on various sports events.
– Casino games: A variety of RNG online casino games such as slots, blackjack, roulette.
– Poker: Peer to peer online poker games and tournaments are permitted.
– Bingo: Online bingo games are allowed.
– Live dealer games: Only live dealer roulette games are permitted. - Taxation: Licensed operators are subject to a tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR).
- Advertising/player protection: Usual EU-wide measures encouraging responsible gambling, self-exclusion options, age verification processes and rules governing advertising aimed at shielding vulnerable groups.
- Studio operations: Live dealer game providers are subject to DGOJ technical certification with audits to to ensure their studios and games meet standards for fairness, security, and transparency.
Major Operators
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Now a mature regulated iGaming market, just about every major international online gambling brand has a licensed presence in Spain offering services from their ‘.es’ websites, including:
- Bet365: Offers sports betting, casino games (including selection of live roulette games), and poker
- 888 Casino: Provides a variety of casino games (including selection of live roulette games), and poker.
- Bwin: Offers sports betting, poker, and casino games (including selection of live roulette games).
- William Hill: Offers sports betting and casino offerings (including selection of live roulette games).
- Betway: Offers sports betting and casino offerings (including selection of live roulette games)
Best live casinos for Spanish players
Players in Spain have access to a long list of reputable live casino operators, with services tailored to the Spanish market (including Spanish dealers). Only live roulette games are offered however.
