More Operators Apply for Licenses in Newly Regulated Spain

New blood is coming to the Spanish online gaming market.

Twelve New Operators Among Applications

According to Spain's gambling regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), a total of twelve new online gambling operators submitted applications before the country's new license tender window closed on December 9, 2014.

The DGOJ further clarified that a total of nine sports betting licenses applications were submitted, along with another 32 specific product applications for specific products, plus 11 “other games” applications. Among these applications, five newcomers submitted licensing requests.

The tender window for new entrants to the Spanish market was announced last month by DGOJ upon approval of regulation for slots and exchange betting. Seven more newcomers submitted tenders in the slots category, for a total of twelve new operators license submissions.

Legal Vacuum Filled

The new regulation last month represented the first regulation of online gambling in Spain since gambling was decriminalized back in 1977. The new laws passed the approval of all Parliamentary groups, giving rise to the tender window and opening the Spanish online gambling market to new entrants.

In pursuit of added tax revenues for the state, Spain has followed suit with what is shaping up to be a general movement across European countries to regulate online gambling. France, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands are among the countries developing contemporary regulation guidelines to harness the benefits of the exponential growth of the online gambling industry over the past decade.

Modern Regulation Model

The nature of the legislation making it adaptable and acceptable to general concerns about the availability of gambling to the online environment is important because other countries in and out of Europe are sure to follow the same model to some extent. The draft approved by Spain's Council of Ministers puts forth a modern framework for the online environment, according to a licensing system that puts in place among other things guarantees to protect minors and people with problem gambling.