All 17 of Spain’s autonomous communities have signed a joint position defending their authority over land-based gambling, in a direct response to plans by the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) to take a coordinating role over player protection in physical venues.
The document was agreed after a meeting of the regional authorities on 14 July 2026 and has been presented to the DGOJ and to the Gambling Policy Council (Consejo de Políticas del Juego), the body where the state and the regions coordinate gambling policy. The communities want guarantees that national reforms will not cut into their control of licensing and venue conditions.
A split set by law
Spain divides gambling powers by channel. Law 13/2011 on the regulation of gambling gives the state, through the DGOJ, authority over online gambling and gambling offered nationwide. Casinos, bingo halls, arcades and betting shops fall under the 17 autonomous communities, each with its own gambling law, licensing regime and inspection service.
The DGOJ sits within the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda. It argues that its mandate requires common protection standards across a framework that differs from one region to the next. According to the regional side, the question of a DGOJ coordinating role over protections for vulnerable customers in land-based venues first came up at last year’s Gambling Policy Council.
The regions see that proposal as a potential encroachment on their licensing powers and their authority over venue conditions.
Madrid leads the regional case
Ramón Cubián, Director General for Land and the official responsible for gambling at the Comunidad de Madrid, is leading the initiative. Speaking at the ExpoCongreso Luis Escribano on 17 September 2026, he called for “effective coordination between the state and the autonomous communities” on land-based gambling.
Cubián said regulation should share common principles on business freedom and user protection, while leaving room for regional differences. He described the joint document as the product of contributions from territories governed by parties with different political positions.
“Each autonomous community has a different political, economic, social and business environment.” Ramón Cubián, Comunidad de Madrid (translated from Spanish)
He also asked that the regional administrations take part in any analysis of possible new forms of land-based distribution. Cubián also cited Madrid’s inspection record: according to the Comunidad de Madrid, inspectors found one minor inside a gambling venue over the previous three years.
Months of friction with the DGOJ
The joint position follows a harder line Madrid set out in May. At the congress of the Spanish arcade trade association ANESAR on 15 May 2026, Cubián said land-based gambling is an exclusive regional competence that should not pass to the state. He described relations with the DGOJ as institutionally cordial and attributed the disagreement to differing political views, not technical detail.
“Regulation must focus on risk management and not on the perception of harm inherent to the activity.” Ramón Cubián, Comunidad de Madrid (translated from Spanish)
At the same event he called for a regulatory debate built on institutional neutrality, legal certainty and respect for business freedom.
What the state has done online
The dispute comes as the Ministry tightens rules in the channel it does control. Royal Decree 520/2026, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 25 June 2026, amends the licensing rules under Law 13/2011 and the 2023 safer gambling environments decree (Royal Decree 176/2023) to introduce joint deposit limits per player across all licensed online operators.
According to the BOE text, the default ceilings are €700 per day, €1,750 per week and €3,300 per four-week period, counted across every operator a player uses. The DGOJ will run the system and can reject deposits above the limit. Players can set lower limits. The decree applies to online gambling only, and most of it takes effect on 25 March 2027.
No equivalent cross-operator system exists for land-based venues, where age checks, self-exclusion access and venue rules are set region by region. The joint document asks for regional involvement before any national standard reaches that channel.
What happens next
The Gambling Policy Council is the next point of contact, and its handling of the regional document will show whether the DGOJ keeps its coordinating proposal for land-based venues or narrows it. The communities’ participation in future decisions on land-based gambling and retail distribution remains contested.
For retail operators, the outcome decides whether player protection rules in their venues continue to come from 17 regional regulators, or whether national standards set by the DGOJ start to apply alongside them.
Source: Comunidad de Madrid
