for early access to the latest igaming videos!
and get the latest igaming news first!
The Spanish Ministerio de Derechos Sociales, Consumo y Agenda 2030 has recently announced a new set of regulatory policies that are intended to mitigate the risks posed by online gambling. This was announced by Andrés Barragán, the Secretary General for Consumer Affairs and Gaming, during the First Ibero-American Meeting on Responsible Gambling, which was organized by the Federación Española de Jugadores de Azar Rehabilitados (FEJAR).
During the event, Barragán highlighted the need to strengthen the existing regulatory framework in Spain due to the growing concern of online gambling as a public health issue. “In Spain, we have a serious public health problem with online gambling. That is why we need to continue strengthening regulation to reduce these harms. A small number of players bear much of the major losses. It is the operators who design the environments, segment advertising toward these profiles, and concentrate almost all the profits”, he said.
This is a significant change in the tone of the policy, which positions gambling regulation not only as a market issue but also as a health issue.
Three Key Regulatory Initiatives
According to Barragán, the Ministry is working on three new regulatory initiatives that are intended to prevent problematic gambling behavior in online platforms.
The first regulatory initiative is the establishment of real betting limits that cannot be bypassed by simply switching between operators. The aim of this initiative is to ensure that users are not able to bypass limits by opening multiple accounts with different operators.
The second proposal is centered on advertising transparency. New warnings in gambling ads would include information on the profits gained by operators, moving the focus away from messages that only emphasized individual responsibility. This strategy seeks to provide more context on the economic model of the industry and its profit dynamics.
The third proposal seeks to put in place a strengthened system for the detection of at-risk players. This system, developed by public health experts, would replace current monitoring systems and aim to detect problematic patterns earlier, allowing for better intervention.
Barragán considered the current market to be “absolutely unbalanced”, as a small number of users is responsible for a large number of losses, which in turn generates most of the operator’s profits.
Youth Gambling Trends Raise Additional Concerns
The regulatory efforts are taking place in the context of new data showing a rise in youth engagement in gambling activities. Spain’s Plan Nacional sobre Drogas has recently published the results of the 2025 ESTUDES survey, carried out between February and June among 35,256 students aged 14 to 18.
The results show an increase in gambling participation compared to 2021 and 2023. In 2025, 13% of students reported having participated in online gambling, while 20.9% took part in offline betting activities.
Gender gaps remain important. Online gambling participation was reported by 20.7% of male students, compared to 5.3% of female students. In offline betting, 29.5% of boys reported participation, versus 12.3% of girls. The results also show that prevalence increases with age, except for girls in online gambling, for whom no consistent trend was observed.
The results of the survey come in the context of 4,916 treatment admissions in 2023, mostly due to compulsive gambling.
A Regulatory Turning Point
The current moves by Spain to regulate the industry show a commitment to dealing with the risks posed by online gambling. The measures will ensure that the industry is balanced and that the welfare of vulnerable groups is protected.
The measures that are being proposed will have an impact on the industry and will also shape the future of regulation in Europe and Latin America, where there are similar health concerns associated with online gambling.
Source: SBC Noticias
