Spain imposes sanctions on 20 operators for engaging in illegal gambling in Q2

During the latter half of 2022, the Spanish regulatory body, Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), imposed fines totaling over €35.0m (£31.0m/$38.6m) on 20 online operators for engaging in illegal gambling activities. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs revealed that these operators were contacted for committing “serious or very serious infractions” related to breaches of the Regulación del Juego (LRJ) gambling law.

Among the operators contacted, seven were flagged for “very serious” infractions and were subsequently banned from offering online gambling in Spain for a duration of two years. Additionally, each of these operators was fined €5.0m, resulting in a cumulative penalty of €35.0m for the second half of the year.

The DGOJ also identified “serious” violations among the remaining 13 operators and imposed financial penalties amounting to €560,000. Nine of these violations pertained to non-compliance with advertising and marketing regulations for gambling in Spain, with each operator being fined €10,000 for the breach.

The remaining four operators received penalties ranging from €125,000 to €160,000 for various reasons, such as allowing individuals who had self-excluded from gambling to continue playing online or failing to meet technical requirements.

Since the update of the LRJ in July 2021, which introduced levels of serious and very serious violations, a total of 92 operators have faced sanctions, with 73 cases in 2022 and 19 in 2021. As a result of these breaches, fines totaling over €181.0m have been issued.