Spain’s Secretary General for Consumer Affairs and Gambling, Andrés Barragán, has confirmed the government will introduce cross-operator betting limits and new advertising restrictions this year, targeting what he described as structural gaps in the country’s player protection framework.
Barragán set out the plans at the annual conference of FEJAR, the association of rehabilitated gamblers in Spain. He said the current support framework was irregular and lacked coordination among national agencies, with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs set to take full responsibility for oversight and public engagement on problem gambling.
Cross-operator limits at the centre of the reforms
The centrepiece of the planned measures is a system of betting limits that applies across all licensed operators simultaneously. Under the current setup, players can open accounts with multiple operators to circumvent individual-level restrictions. Barragán said that gap would be closed.
“Limits must be real limits,” Barragán said. “It mustn’t be possible to evade safeguards by moving from one operator to another. If protection is to be effective, it must apply across the entire system.”
The mechanism for implementing and enforcing those cross-operator limits has not yet been detailed publicly. Spain does not currently operate a unified national player account system comparable to those in place in some other European markets, so the technical and regulatory architecture required will be a key question for operators and suppliers to watch.
Advertising rules to shift responsibility toward operators
New advertising rules are also part of the package. Barragán said campaigns will be required to highlight operator profitability and the concentration of losses among a small group of high-spending players, moving away from messaging that places responsibility solely on individuals.
“Operators design the environments, segment advertising towards certain profiles and concentrate almost all the profits. Regulation must reflect that reality,” Barragán said.
Spain introduced tobacco-style warning labels for online gambling advertising in 2023 as part of an earlier round of reforms. The planned changes go further, requiring operators to communicate the commercial dynamics of gambling rather than focusing purely on player choice. The advertising framework is likely to face scrutiny from operators on implementation detail and scope.
Monitoring to shift from operator-led to public health model
Barragán said the ministry intends to replace operator-led player monitoring mechanisms with a framework designed by public health professionals. The new system will impose stricter reporting standards and risk-modelling criteria based on public health criteria rather than commercial parameters.
“We want detection systems built on public health criteria, not purely commercial parameters. Prevention must be structural, embedded in how platforms operate, not an afterthought,” he said.
That shift has direct compliance implications for operators. Platform-level obligations around player monitoring, risk flagging, and intervention are likely to become more prescriptive if the proposed framework is adopted.
Concentration of losses among high-spending players
Barragán pointed to an imbalance in the market, saying a small group of high-spending customers account for a large share of total losses. He said regulation needed to address that concentration directly, framing it as a harm reduction issue rather than a commercial one.
The ESTUDES 2025 youth survey, cited by Barragán, found gambling participation has risen among adolescents aged 14 to 18, both online and through land-based channels, adding political weight to the reform programme.
“We have a serious public health problem with online gambling in Spain,” Barragán said. “That’s why we need to continue to reinforce regulation to reduce harms. The current system is not sufficiently balanced to protect those most at risk.”
Spain’s online gambling market reached €405m in GGR in Q3 2025, with casino products continuing to grow their share, according to data from the national regulator DGOJ.
Royal Decree still incomplete
The reforms build on the Royal Decree on Safer Gambling Environments introduced in March 2023, several provisions of which remain pending following legal challenges and continued ministry analysis. Barragán acknowledged the decree had been a step forward but said more was needed.
“We need stronger tools, better coordination and more effective mechanisms to detect and prevent problematic behaviours,” he said.
No legislative timetable for the new measures has been published. The scope and detail of the cross-operator limits, advertising requirements, and monitoring framework are expected to become clearer as the ministry moves toward formal consultation. For operators active in Spain, the direction of travel is set: the cost of non-compliance across European markets is rising, and Spain is moving in the same direction.
Source: FEJAR annual conference / Ministry of Consumer Affairs
