Emilia-Romagna court annuls Bologna betting and VLT authorisations

The Emilia-Romagna Regional Administrative Court (TAR) has annulled the authorisations issued by the Bologna police headquarters (Questura) for the operation of a VLT venue and for the collection of sports and horse-racing bets. The court upheld an appeal brought by a condominium. The ruling was published on 30 October 2026.

The case concerns a business in Bologna authorised in June 2023. The condominium had challenged the measures, arguing that the premises stood less than 500 metres from a private healthcare facility that was later added to the municipal list of sensitive sites. In March 2022 the local police had measured a distance of 546.30 metres between the venue and the facility, holding that the limit under Emilia-Romagna regional law no. 5/2013 was met. The condominium produced an expert report identifying a pedestrian route of 470.30 metres.

In April 2023 the Municipality of Bologna updated its mapping of sensitive sites to include the healthcare facility. On 1 June 2023 the Questura issued the authorisations for VLT operation and betting collection, referring to a building permit of August 2022 without carrying out a new distance check. New pedestrian crossings were subsequently built. A measurement by the local police in November 2023 established a distance of 385.26 metres, below the 500-metre threshold.

In 2026 the Municipality began a procedure aimed at relocating the business, asking the operator to document the investments made and the costs still to be amortised, which are needed to define any transitional period before closure or transfer.

The TAR found a defect in the Questura's investigation. According to the judges, the public security authority should have verified, including through municipal offices, the actual situation of sensitive sites at the time the licences were issued, rather than merely citing an earlier building title. The court noted that a building permit and police authorisations serve different purposes: the first concerns the urban planning conformity of the property, while the second allow the exercise of gambling and betting activity and also require compliance with regional and local distance rules.

The ruling cites a circular of the Ministry of the Interior of 19 March 2018, according to which Questure examining licence applications under article 88 of the TULPS must check not only public security requirements but also compliance with minimum distances from sensitive sites. In this case, the update of the municipal mapping had taken place before the authorisations were issued and would therefore have required a new investigation. The TAR annulled both licences, for VLT equipment and for the collection of sports and horse-racing bets, and ordered that legal costs be offset.