Spain's parliament dissolution ends progress on gambling initiatives

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.

Among the expired items was a Socialist Group non-binding proposal on the system of joint deposit limits, which the DGOJ has now presented instead. Another Socialist initiative that lapsed proposed studying the psychological impact of so-called reward machines on minors and their possible link to the onset of non-substance addictions. A Popular Group non-binding proposal to promote prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of online gambling addiction across national territory was archived. A further proposal from the same group focused on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of women who gamble actively online.

The Socialist Group had presented a non-binding proposal to regularise the marketing requirements for lottery games. The Partido Popular sought to require accountability for revenue RTVE would have failed to receive after breaching its contract with Loterías del Estado. A PP request for SELAE president Jesús Huerta to appear before the Commission on Social Rights and Consumer Affairs was also left unprocessed. The request sought explanations on sales-point commissions, the sustainability of lottery administrations in rural areas and the development of regulation for marketing games through websites, applications and other electronic channels. Another PP parliamentary question asked about SELAE's plans for a contingency plan to support the survival of lottery administrations in depopulated Spain in the event of a concentration of online marketing on its own website.

The PP also tabled several questions on gambling and minors, including one seeking explanations from the government for keeping the share of minors who gamble at 21.5% alongside increases in spending and online gambling. Other questions asked when a new national strategy incorporating digital addictions and online gambling would be presented, and whether current access controls for minors on internet gambling were proving effective. PP requests for DGOJ director general Mikel Arana to report on illegal gambling files in Spain and the corresponding uncollected fines will also not proceed. All these initiatives appear in the lists of expired business published after the dissolution of the chambers, although some, such as the DGOJ proposal, have found application through other routes.