{"id":318648,"date":"2025-08-05T02:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T02:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/318648\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T02:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T02:12:11","slug":"spain-sees-surge-in-online-gambling-despite-strict-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/318648\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain Sees Surge in Online Gambling Despite Strict Regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

New figures published by Spain<\/strong>\u2019s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and 2030 Agenda <\/strong>reveal a steep increase in online gambling activity in the country, prompting alarm<\/a> from regulators and public health experts. The report, created by the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling<\/strong> (DGOJ) and validated by the Responsible Gambling Advisory Council<\/strong> in July, details an alarming 21.63% growth <\/strong>in active online gamblers over the last year.<\/p>\n

Aggressive Bonuses Drew in More Consumers<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the report, this sudden increase correlates with the resurgence of \u201cwelcome bonuses<\/strong>,\u201d marketing tools previously curbed under Spain\u2019s 2020 Royal Decree<\/strong> on gambling advertising. The findings come despite earlier optimism<\/a> that Spain\u2019s strict restrictions<\/strong> on gambling ads and promotional bonuses had reduced problem gambling behavior.<\/p>\n

A study published by the Harm Reduction Journal in 2023 credited the Royal Decree with a 55% drop <\/strong>in newly opened gambling accounts between 2020 and 2023. However, with the recent resurgence in bonus-driven promotions,<\/strong> those gains appear to be slipping. In 2024, the monthly average active accounts increased by 23.48%<\/strong> to 1.43 million<\/strong>. New account registrations also spiked, averaging 151,898 per month<\/strong>, an increase of 34.73%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For the first time, the yearly report incorporated data from Spain\u2019s regional governments<\/strong>, providing more details on regional gambling trends. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs views this collaboration as a significant milestone<\/strong> in transparency and oversight. Such detailed information should help the government<\/strong> understand the gambling sector\u2019s footprint across the country and create more effective regulations.<\/p>\n

The Gambling Sector Is Booming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasing participation equated to record profits for Spanish gambling operators. In 2024, the gambling industry recorded EUR 8.1 billion <\/strong>($9.38 billion) in gross gaming revenue. Online casinos accounted for EUR 730.7 million<\/strong> ($845.7 million), and sports betting accounted for EUR 608.85 million <\/strong>($704.7 million). Poker, which has previously been a significant driver of online gaming, accounted for only EUR 100 million<\/strong> ($115.7 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The return of online betting has been particularly significant<\/strong>. Driven by live sports and traditional betting, revenues expanded 23.8%<\/strong>, the most notable rise across all segments. As revenue increased, so did operator spending. Gambling firms spent more than EUR 526 million<\/strong> ($608.7 million)\u00a0 on marketing in 2024. Promotions accounted for EUR 261 million<\/strong> ($302 million), while another EUR 203 million<\/strong> ($234.9 million) was invested in advertising.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After years of attempting to curtail gambling\u2019s societal harms, the Ministry sees this data as an indicator of potential issues<\/strong>. Even as advertising bans remain in place, the appeal of digital promotions and aggressive marketing has proven difficult to contain<\/strong>. As gambling deposits increase and more Spaniards play online, the nation seeks new measures<\/a> to protect consumers<\/strong> without disrupting a highly lucrative industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New figures published by Spain\u2019s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and 2030 Agenda reveal a steep increase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,474,62299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-318648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-igaming","12":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114973739932675281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}