Spanish Gambling Law Delayed by Up to 6 Months: What You Need to Know

The Spanish Gambling Law has been delayed by up to 6 months, as confirmed by the publication in the BOE. The moratorium on the sanctioning regime of the Spanish Gambling Law has been extended by 6 months. This extension is included in the Real Decreto 20/2011 of 30 December, which contains urgent measures in budgetary, tax and financial matters for the correction of the public deficit.

The sanctioning regime will come into force on the date of publication of the resolution of the first procedure for the granting of licenses or on 30 June 2012, whichever is earlier. This delay has raised concerns about potential legal modifications and the impact on gambling operators.

There are concerns that this moratorium extension, where operators will not have a license, could allow other courts to impose similar precautionary measures to those ordered against MiApuesta. Legal sources inform that lifting these measures should be relatively simple, but the uncertainty remains high for both poker players and companies in the sector.