GamblingCompliance Spanish Gambling Act Spotlight

Spanish gaming firm Codere is contesting Spain’s entire online gambling licensing system in court, complaining that many licences were unduly granted and offshore operators have still not paid enough retrospective tax.

Spain’s gambling regulator has sent cease and desist warnings to 12 unlicensed operators, including companies linked to Betsson, Gaming VC and 12Bet.

Representatives of Las Vegas Sands yesterday met with the government of Madrid and confirmed that they plan to break ground on their €15bn EuroVegas project late next year.

Spain’s government has heeded calls from operators and players alike for clearer income tax on gamblers in its 2013 budget. 

Bwin.Party’s "decidedly uncomfortable" agreement to pay Spanish tax authorities €33m (£26.7m) to settle back-tax claims raises the cost of doing business in Spain, already projected to be a highly competitive market, analysts and attorneys say.

Juan Carlos Alfonso has confirmed his departure as deputy director of Spain’s gambling directorate just as Spain’s online licensing process enters its final weeks.

Sportingbet is battling to keep its Spanish websites open after Madrid-based gaming giant Codere won an injunction hearing which it says leaves all online gambling “indisputably prohibited” in Spain.

With online gambling stalled at the national level, Madrid is leading Spain’s other autonomous communities in the hunt for extra tax revenue by relaxing its own gaming laws.

Spain’s government has released draft regulations which are set to squeeze out high rollers in online poker and betting and have already provoked furious lobbying from operators in a swift seven-day consultation ending this week.

Spain added to Betfair's Greek woes yesterday when a senior government official announced it also plans to disallow betting exchanges from obtaining online gambling authorisations in an initial licensing phase this year.

With the final approval of the online gaming bill in early May 2011, there is still a long process ahead before the regulation takes full effect. An extension of the standstill period in the European Commission of the text has also delayed the entry into force of the approved law.

A new report into the grey online market in Spain issued by GamblingData ahead of the possible regulation of the market late in 2011 or early 2012 suggests the market is currently worth between €210m and €250m.

Online operators yesterday cheered the removal of their last and biggest hurdle in Spain, as a controversial turnover tax on internet gambling was replaced by a gross profit-based charge in the draft law.

Online gambling operators could be licensed and operating in Spain by the end of next year, according to state monopoly and regulator Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (LAE).