The Ministry for Consumer Affairs issued the fines for breaches of online gambling rules.

Spain.- The Ministry for Consumer Affairs has reported that it issued some €65.4m in fines in the first half of the year for breaches of Spain’s online gambling rules. That takes the total of fines issued since 2021 to €398m.

Some 13 unlicensed gambling operators were hit with fines of €5m each for “very serious infringements”. The operators were named as Interactive Pro, Stars Cream, Loveca Sino, Rougeca Sino, Mountberg, Alimanieri, Goldenpharaoh, Goldenlion, Golden Genie, Bigwins Games Tech, Games & More, Gladiator Holding and R.Bostock Enterprises.

These made up the bulk of the fines and have all been disqualified from entering the market for two years. However, licensed operators picked up fines too.

The Spanish gambling regulator DGOJ fined Codere Online due to a Facebook ad that it said held appealed for minors, putting it in breach of marketing rules. The operator was fined €162,500.

Meanwhile, Electraworks received a €225,000 fine for missing a deadline to submit reports on technical requirements. The regulator said the operator had repeatedly delivered its reports late in 2023, racking up 1,611 days of delay in total.

Spanish gambling operators criticise move to reimpose advertising restrictions

The Spanish online gambling trade body Jdigital has criticised the government’s move to reimpose restrictions on gambling advertising via a new amendment added to an unrelated decree to create a new state agency for public health.

The move means the reintroduction of restrictions against gambling ads on social media along with a ban on the use of bonus promotions and public figures as imposed by the previous Royal Decree on Advertising of 2022. The Supreme Court had partially overturned the decree in April after Jdigital and the media body AMI brought an appeal against it.

The court maintained a ban on gambling sponsorship in sports and limited hours for television advertising but annulled article 13, which banned targeting advertising at players who have had an account for fewer than 30 days, and sections of articles 23, 25 and 26, which banned advertising on social media and video sharing platforms. The court also annulled article 15, which prohibited the use of celebrities in advertising.