E-gambling reforms in Spain

Last week in Spain new legislation regulating online gambling was enacted. The Spanish government will put the new laws about e-gambling into effect just after EU notification.

According to this legislation The Spanish National Gambling Commission (CNJ) will officially announce the list of specially created Test Houses which will be checking the software of companies which are trying to receive the Spanish playing license. Bookmaker firms which are being advertised on the territory of Spain at the moment will be the first to receive such licenses. They have time until 01.01.2012 for registration which is the main condition of activity and realization of an advertising campaign on the Spanish market. The term of significance of the issued licenses is only 18 months, the following stage of licenses issuing will come after the end of this 18-month term. Fines for companies offering e-gambling services without a corresponding license will be defined in the new law. These fines are in the range from 100 thousand to 50 million euros. The Spanish National Gambling Commission (CNJ), an official organization regulating gambling in the Internet, will appoint every autonomous district in Spain an independent body Council for Gaming Policy. A 25% tax from net profit of e-gambling operators, the incomes of which will be distributed among different autonomous regions, belong to the next point of the new gambling legislation. According to independent statistical data from the year 2010 it is estimated that 400 thousand people have placed stakes in the internet. It is expected that after enacting of the new gambling legislation the national treasury will be enriched by 137 million euros of tax from e-gambling operators.