Spain’s betting landscape changed forever in 2011 following the introduction of the Spanish Gambling Act to legislate a market that some analysts estimate is bigger than that of the home of online sports betting, the United Kingdom.
Gambling has been legal in Spain for more than 30 years but, until the Spanish Gambling Act came along, the country’s 17 autonomous communities – Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile, ÄìLa Mancha, Castile and Leon, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Bavarre and Valencian – oversaw betting of all shapes and forms.
Online Casino License. As mentioned above, an online casino license is an essential part if you want to open a casino business. License process can differ according to your country. Each country has its own rules and law on gambling and online casinos. We can divide the states into several parts according to the law on gambling they have.
Officially Regulated
The main purpose of the Spanish Gambling Act is to harmonize the regulation of online betting in Spain, an activity that clearly transcends regional boundaries and requires national coordination. However, the Act still empowers the autonomous communities to continue determining the majority of gambling regulations and policies within their respective regions.
The Spanish Gambling Act regulates, in particular, national gaming operations through electronic, interactive and technological means, which include the Internet, television, mobile phones, land lines and any other interactive communication system where physical means have an ancillary role. Also, the Act regulates the provision of games by the incumbent lottery operators LAE and ONCE, regardless of the channel through which organizations offer those games.
Advertising, promotion and sponsorship concerning betting activities are included in the scope of the Spanish Gambling Act as well. In particular, the Act prohibits advertising, sponsorship or endorsement of gambling activities as well as advertising or promotion of gambling operators who do not hold the appropriate licenses. Bet365.com holds such license, and is an online gambling site we trust and recommend. The Act also states that advertising, sponsorship and promotion activities carried out by media operators regarding gambling activities or gambling operators are subject to an authorization process.
Sports Betting in Spain
The Spanish Gambling Act regulates sports pool betting, fixed-odds sports betting, sports betting exchanges, horse-race pool betting, fixed-odds horse racing betting, other forms of pool betting, other forms of fixed-odds betting, other forms of exchange betting, raffles, Competitions, other games and random combination games. The Act does not include either live in-play betting or bingo games so they are, in principle, not allowed. However, live in-play betting and bingo are permitted and operated legally in some autonomous communities, one of which is Madrid. The lack of definition of bingo games is likely to benefit LAE and ONCE provided that they can successfully argue that bingo falls within the scope of their lottery license.
All Domains Under .es
As a result of the Spanish Gambling Act, operators providing betting services to citizens of Spain must obtain a license from the country’s National Gambling Commission. Licenses are not transferable and their grant implies payment of taxes, including some back dated to before the Act came into existence. Furthermore, the Act requires licensed operators to conduct their business through a .es domain and to redirect all connections to their other domains made from locations in Spain or using Spanish user accounts.
The Spanish Gambling Act is proving successful at preventing unlawful operators from providing betting services to citizens of Spain, with upwards of 50 websites closing down voluntarily and legal proceedings under way against those websites that chose to ignore cease and desist orders.
Taxes on Internet Gambling
There are interesting developments in the area of gambling taxation, with a draft legislative package that would, if it became law, enable Spanish gamblers to deduct losses from their wins for tax purposes. Such a move would be terrific for professional punters, who are currently taxed on their gross winnings from which they are not entitled to deduct their losing stakes. It would provide them with a great reason to bet with an operator licensed in Spain.
With the transition period over, it’s now illegal for Spanish citizens to bet with operators who do not hold a Spanish license. There is no shortage of choices with many of the world’s biggest gambling organizations setting up .es domains to service the European country legally.
Online Casino License
Conclusion
Expect authorities to continue to tinker with the Spanish Gambling Act, both to close up any loopholes that unlicensed operators look to exploit and to eradicate any grey areas. Currently, one would have to say that there is a lack of clarity regarding what the Act calls other games, which most analysts are taking to include online poker.
Spanish gamblers may love or hate their country’s Gambling Act but it does, to a large extent, set out what is legal and what is illegal, something that has not been crystal clear to most people for the best part of four decades.
SoftSwiss software is a trustworthy and reliable baseline for starting an iGaming brand. We offer stable certified software for online casinos and sport betting operations. Holding a number of gambling licenses we provide one-stop White Label solutions and various operation services for our clients. For years of working in the industry, we gained significant experience handling national regulators and obtaining gambling licenses in different jurisdictions.
Online Gambling License Spain
Gaming licenses we work with
Curacao is one of the most popular jurisdictions when it comes to gambling licenses. The license lets you run your iGaming business pretty much all over the world. Since 2014 SoftSwiss has held its Curacao remote gaming license. This enables us to provide our popular White Label Casino and White Label Sportsbook to dozens of happy clients. Moreover, the Curacao license openly allows the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies! This provides the legal ground to our “instant classic” Crypto Casino and Crypto Sportsbook solutions.
Malta is the top choice among gaming licenses that lets you run the business in various countries worldwide. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is one of the most prestigious licensing bodies on the globe. SoftSwiss provides robust White Label Casino and White Label Sportsbook solutions under Malta's jurisdiction. We have held the “B2C” Malta gaming license since 2017. On top of that, in 2020 SoftSwiss Game Aggregator obtained its B2B license, which means we can supply top-notch games to other gaming operators licensed by the MGA.
Estonia is a relatively small market, but the local gaming legislation is very progressive. The Estonian license allows for participation of players from abroad, while the tax burden is not in the high range. Under the Estonian license SoftSwiss provides White Label Casino and White Label Sportsbook solutions. This became possible in 2019 after our acquisition of the local company Kingswin Online OÜ. Naturally, our gaming platform is all certified for working in Estonia, too.
The online segment of the gambling market in Belarus opened up in 2019. Gambling licenses are issued by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. The SoftSwiss gaming platform was certified for operation in the official Belarusian iGaming market in 2020.
The Belgium Gaming Commission is an authority with the sole responsibility for licensing land-based and online gaming in Belgium. The SoftSwiss online casino platform has been officially approved for operation by the Belgium Gaming Commission since 2017.
Online gaming in Germany will become regulated in H2 2021. SoftSwiss is actively preparing its online gaming software platform to be compliant with the German requirements, so it is fully ready for participation in the newly regulated market once it becomes active.
BGaming, the game development studio backed by SoftSwiss, is officially licensed and certified by the Swedish Gaming Authority (SGA). This means their sharp-looking casino games can be played in Sweden!
Сoming soon! SoftSwiss is in the process of securing a remote gaming license in the Philippines.
Сoming soon! SoftSwiss is currently applying for a remote gaming license in Serbia.
Сoming soon! SoftSwiss is currently applying for a remote gaming license in Greece.
Сoming soon! SoftSwiss is preparing for being issued a remote gaming license in Ghana.
BGaming, the game development studio backed by SoftSwiss, is officially licensed and certified by The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. This means their sharp-looking casino games are available to all casinos working under the Isle of Man license!
SoftSwiss White Label solution is a legitimate way to start an iGaming brand. This popular solution includes operating under the SoftSwiss gambling license, instead of obtaining it individually.
We have a solution for starting a White Label casino
Nj Casino License
Powerful software with thousands of games. Great variety of payment systems. Over 80 clients trust us!