Spain — Gambling Regulation

Regulated since Ley 13/2011: the DGOJ issues general + singular licences for nationwide online play, with .es domains, a 20% GGR tax and some of Europe's strictest advertising rules.

Legal status by vertical

The Ley 13/2011 framework

Spain regulated nationwide online play with Ley 13/2011, under a two-layer licence: a general licence per category plus a singular licence per game type, issued by the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ). Licensed operators run on mandatory .es domains and pay 20% of gross gaming revenue across casino, betting and poker. Licensing happens in periodic windows rather than continuously — an applicant who misses a window waits for the next one.

Online poker plays on shared international liquidity: since the 2017 agreement, Spanish tables pool with France and Portugal. Lotteries remain the preserve of the state operators SELAE and ONCE, and RGIAJ is the national self-exclusion register binding every licensee.

The advertising battleground

Spain's defining regulatory fight has been over advertising. Royal Decree 958/2020 imposed some of Europe's strictest gambling-advertising restrictions — confining most broadcast advertising to late night and severely limiting sponsorship and bonusing. In April 2024 the Supreme Court partially annulled the decree, striking several of its restrictions while leaving the core regime standing.

The result is a market that is stable at the framework level — Ley 13/2011 is past its first decade — while the rules around promotion keep moving. For operators, the .es licence is straightforward; the compliance work lives in what they may say about it.

Key facts

• Royal Decree 958/2020 ad restrictions partially annulled by the Supreme Court in April 2024
• Licensing happens in periodic windows, not continuously
• RGIAJ is the national self-exclusion register

Frequently asked questions