The government of Spain just opened an avenue for public consultations about the possibility of a Royal Decree to regulate gambling activities within the country. It is said that the decree will make Spain’s online casino gambling fairer and safer for the players. However, it emphasizes the enforcement of the age limit to put a stop to underage people participating in iGaming.
The implication of The Decree
With this decree in force, there will be compliance with the best safe and responsible gaming practices. This way, everyone who takes part in live casino gambling will do so with healthy behavior.
Although there are already laid out standards for promoting responsible gaming habits, this degree will make it more powerful. Online gaming is supposed to be for its fun, but it is relatively easy for people to lose focus and become addicted to it. This can go on to destroy their life and make them bankrupt. This is what the decree seeks to guide against, and now, the decree is the public consultation phase.
There is also a legal act set to make sure online casino operators in the country collect necessary player’s data that seeks to protect them and broaden the scope of information that operators exchange with their clients. The law also gives more power to the already existing responsible gaming standards like restrictions of access by specific individuals and carrying out proactive measures in response to those already dealing with gambling issues.
Statement from Spain’s Minister for Consumer Affairs
In the words of Alberto Garzon, Spain’s Minister for consumer affairs, he noted that in the years ahead, the enforcement of the act would be one of the Ministry’s top priorities. He further noted that the decree would cover not only enforcement of existing standards of responsible gaming but also massive awareness campaigns and measures to prevent, respond to, oversee, and intervene in gambling-related issues. He later emphasized the importance of all stakeholders collaborating to ensure that the process is successful and the vision is a reality.
What did The Ministry Put in Place
Before coming up with the legislation, the Ministry ensured that the Responsible Gambling Advisory Council was in the loop since they consist of the essential stakeholders such as casino operators, lawmakers, civil servants, and academicians. This public hearing became necessary due to the different measures that have been targeted at reducing the rate of gambling-related adverts so that players are protected from risky behaviors.
The need for the public hearing came from a recent survey that was conducted and published by the Ministry of Health in the country. According to the publication, up to 670,000 citizens of the country who fell within the age group of 15-64 years were either dealing with gambling problems or are at the risk of developing one soon and this data is just from 2019- 2020.
The study also revealed that up to 6.7% of Spaniards within the same age gap gambled during the same period (2019-2020), which is an alarming increase from the 3.5% recorded the previous year.
Lukas is the head author at Casinoble and responsible for all content strategies and what casinos we review.
Lukas has a background of playing poker in the early years of the poker boom in Europe. He became an expert within the online gambling and has been working as an author for several websites.