Spain's social rights minister, Pablo Bustinduy, addressed the DGOJ's first International Gaming Congress by video on 13 November. He said the government should ensure safe gambling environments and protect people from gambling-related harm, rather than placing responsibility solely on users.
The minister's remarks set out the government's stated approach to gambling safety and responsibility.
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Spain’s Royal Decree 813/2026, which took effect on 28 October, requires online gambling operators to verify that a payment method’s owner matches the account holder. In an interview, Jdigital said the requirement creates technical and legal uncertainty, noting that new players face immediate checks while operators have six months to adapt their systems.
Spain's Royal Decree 813/2026 requires online gambling operators to check that payment methods belong to their gambling account holders. The decree took effect on 28 October and requires immediate compliance for new players, while allowing six months for operators to adapt their technical systems and for players registered before it took effect.
Spain’s DGOJ has developed an algorithm-based predictive model to identify possible risk behaviours among online gambling users, according to the report. The regulator said the system analyses behavioural patterns to support earlier detection and preventive measures aimed at consumer protection.
Spain's DGOJ has developed a predictive model based on algorithms to anticipate possible risk behaviours among online gambling users, according to the report.
DGOJ director general Mikel Arana took part in a SiGMA World Roma panel in Rome on enforcement against illegal gambling, according to the DGOJ. Regulators from Spain, Cyprus, Greece and the Czech Republic discussed challenges including blocking unauthorised sites, payment methods, social media, mirror domains and prediction markets.
DGOJ director general Mikel Arana took part in a panel discussion at SiGMA World Roma, held at Fiera Roma, on the challenges of tackling illegal gambling in Europe, according to a DGOJ statement. The panel, titled "Europe's Enforcement Era: Regulation Is Winning But At What Cost?", brought together representatives of the regulators of Spain, Cyprus, Greece and the Czech Republic. The DGOJ said the session examined how national rules are applied and the difficulties authorities face in acting against unlicensed operators.
European gambling regulators met in Halle (Saale), Germany, on 4 November 2026, with the GGL hosting and Italy’s ADM represented by Elisabetta Poso. The authorities discussed cross-border information sharing and cooperation on illegal online gambling, advertising rules and prediction markets, which the GGL said raise similar regulatory questions across jurisdictions.
European gambling regulators met on 4 November 2026 in Halle (Saale), Germany. The agenda covered action against illegal online gambling, rules on advertising and the regulation of prediction markets.
The dissolution of Spain's Cortes Generales left multiple gambling-related parliamentary initiatives uncompleted, according to a report on the published list of expired business. The proposals included deposit limits, gambling harm prevention, lottery sales rules and questions on minors' access to gambling; a DGOJ proposal on joint deposit limits was later presented through another route.
The dissolution of Spain's Cortes Generales left numerous parliamentary initiatives related to gambling without completed processing, according to the published list of expired business. The list records non-binding proposals, questions and requests for appearances that did not complete their parliamentary passage.