Spain aims to seek a balanced regulation to reduce the illegal online gambling market

"The regulator has to see that the best way to protect consumers is to reduce to a minimum the number of players who go to the illegal market. The way to protect consumers is to make a much more attractive market, as attractive as possible," said lawyer Santiago Asensi.

The expert was one of the participants in the JDigital Meeting 'Online gaming in front of the mirror: X-ray of a sector in transformation', organized by Europa Press, in which two discussion panels were held on this topic.

"There is a phrase that is always present when talking about the regulation of online gaming and that is that it is not advisable to reinvent oneself. We know what works and what does not work. We know that a high tax does not work, we know that without advertising there is no access. To do without that dialogue and come with preconceived ideas, as Minister Garzón could have done with the issue of the advertising decree at the beginning, certainly does not work," he commented.

Asensi has recalled that the problem of pathological gambling in Spain is "very small" and, worldwide, it is one of the countries with the least problems. "Responsible gambling is an important part of what the sector is, but the problem of pathological gambling in Spain is very small for all the hype and importance that is being given to it," he said.

In this sense, he has warned that if many "barriers" are put in place for clients to warn them about the importance of responsible gambling, "gambling stops being attractive" and opens doors for them to turn to illegal games. "An illegal casino on the internet is two clicks on the mobile. If gambling stops being attractive and everything becomes responsible gambling barriers and limits, it will have consequences," he warned.

In this panel, entitled 'Regulatory Challenges and Challenges of the gaming sector before 2025', the manager of MDF Partners, Mario Chamorro, also participated, who has demanded reflection on the "excess" of regulation that exists because "there is no measure that makes illegal gambling rise", although "the sum of all means that any measure should be considered".

In his speech, he recalled that around 2010 the regulatory "explosion" of online gambling in Europe began. Regulations with very similar models and with less concern for responsible gambling than exists today.

"Today, all countries continue to have a very similar situation. It is rare to find a country that does not have advertising restrictions. We have gone from a time when nothing existed to a time when everyone is reregulating," he said.

A market with a +1 Billion euro income

During his speech, he warned that, at present, users have to receive a warning every 60 minutes or an email every month, which causes them to get "tired". "It cannot be that we are bothering 99 percent of users for a theoretical problem of 0.3 percent of people," he said.

Chamorro stressed that the Spanish market is "interesting", as demonstrated by the 1.4 billion euros of income that he expects to reach in 2024.

For his part, the former professor of Administrative Law José María Baño has assured that the great legal challenge of the sector is to have a framework that is capable of adapting to technological changes and "discourages" illegal gambling. "The consumer should be protected, illegal gambling should be restricted as much as possible because it does not protect anyone," he said.

The former professor has called for a European regulation in which the administrative authority is independent, both from the point of view of internal law and from the point of view of online administration. "In online gambling, the challenges regarding illegal gambling are European challenges, they are not challenges that affect France or Germany in a different way to how they can affect Spain," he said.

ILLEGAL GAMBLING

Later, the second round table discussion was held, entitled 'The elephant in the room: illegal gambling', in which Mónica Alba Quintana, chief inspector of CENPIDA (National Police), Cristina Díaz, head of Integrity at the RFEF, and José Antonio Gómez Yáñez, professor of Sociology, participated.

For example, sport is one of the sectors most affected by illegal online gambling, which is why Cristina Díaz has called for a "united" fight against match-fixing and illegal betting.

"Major sporting events are much more controlled, but now the criminals are focusing more on those minor competitions that seem to take place anonymously. If the result of the competition stops being unpredictable, it also loses its appeal," she warned.

For her part, Mónica Alba Quintana has pointed out that illegal gambling is not classified in the Penal Code, so she has suggested that it should be one of the lines to be addressed soon. In addition, she has drawn attention to the "20,000 million different payment systems", especially when they are not controlled.

"The main problem of investigation is the traceability of the money. It is crazy. Because once we request information outside of Spanish territory, many of them require us to pay robbery commissions. That is one of the parts or legs of the bank that I believe should be regulated within the legal operators," she demanded.

In the case of José Antonio Gómez Yáñez, the expert pointed out that 0.3 percent of the Spanish population has problems with gambling and added that the figure is falling, something that is also happening in Europe.

Finally, the general director of Gambling Regulation of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, Mikel Arana, closed the event by pointing out that the department's objective is to "protect."

"Protect gambling populations, protect the most vulnerable sectors, present and past, but above all, and this is more important, protect future gambling people," he concluded.