Spanish Government:Internet Gambling Accepted

Spain is now one step closer to a regulated market, since its internet gambling proposals have been given the green light by Spanish congress.

This follows the approval of the draft gaming legislation two months ago, it will now appear before the senate. Should it be approved by the Spanish senate, it will then be passed on to the European Commission for approval before it’s legalised.

 El Mundo, Spain’s premier newspaper recently reported that internet gambling could be legalised as early as summer. Unfortunately there’s always a snag that complicates matters further, such as a transitional period that has been proposed, the reason for this is it enables internet casinos to regulate their status and sponsorship dealings”. However, this might compel the Spanish Association of Online Gamblers (AEDAPI) to object to it.

AEDAPI questioned the proposed black period introduction the previous week, in effect this could encourage players to wager at rogue internet casinos until those with licences are permitted to operate. Parties concerned supported the legislation only the opposition People’s Party was against it, since it’s not in favour of the creation of a national gaming commission.

A focal point of discussion is the sponsorship of sports teams as discussed by Willem van Oort and Pedro Lopez in their recent interview with Cassaon-casino. The provision enables Spanish football clubs to offer sports betting on their premises, to be honest this has never been done before and should be seen as a very important matter for the Spanish government to consider.

Apart from the proposed transitional period, it’s still unclear if additional proposed amendments have been taken into account by the government. It’s not the first time and it certainly won’t be the last time that Spanish lawmakers are influenced by foreign proposals when imposing its terms for regulation. After favouring a turnover tax, the Spanish government all of a sudden decided to rather choose a gross profits tax in the text of their egaming legislation, as a result of pressure from the Remote Gambling Association (RGA).

As Spain’s market regulation draws closer, many internet casino vendors are vigilant and will keep tabs on any later developments.

Andy McIver who is Sportingbet’s CEO already mentioned that his casino will be applying for a Spanish license the moment the market is regulated. Whilst BetClic Everest’s’ former chairman Stéphane Courbit suggested that the French internet casino might make some acquisitions in Spain and Germany.