The plenary session of the Spanish Senate approves the gambling law

By 146 in favor and 113 abstentions, the reform has definitively gone ahead, while the 22 amendments that remained alive and that have been debated in plenary this morning have been rejected.

Specifically, the ten from the Democratic Parliamentary Group of the Senate (GPD); two from the Mixed Group; one from the Parliamentary Group of the Confederal Left (GPIC); three from the Esquerra Republicana-Bildu Parliamentary Group (GPERB); one from the Nationalist Group (GPN) and five from the Popular Parliamentary Group.

Now, the law will enter into force the day after its publication in the BOE.

These are some of the keys to the reform: -Try to formalize with legal force a technical instrument, managed by the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), the so-called Global Betting Market Research Service (Sigma), in which they will be stored for a maximum time of one year data of people who may have engaged in some type of behavior or possible fraud linked to the competition.

- All entities interested in eradicating fraud and manipulation of sports competitions may join this interactive and telematically accessible cooperation network: the Higher Sports Council, sports federations, professional leagues, gaming operators and state and regional security forces.

- The advertising of gaming operators must be done under the principle of "social responsibility", with which the following will be prohibited:

• Those that incite antisocial or violent attitudes or behavior of any kind, discriminatory for reasons of birth, racial or ethnic origin, sex, religion, opinion or conviction, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, disease, or any other personal or social condition or circumstance.

• Those that incite humiliating, denigrating or vexatious attitudes or behaviors and those that positively or attractively relate gambling activities with activities or behaviors that are illegal or harmful to public health.

• Those that result in economic, social or emotional harm, discredit people who do not play or give social superiority to those who do play, suggest that gambling can improve personal skills or social recognition or include sexual content and link the play seduction, sexual success or increased attractiveness.

• Those that present the game as essential, priority or important in life.

- The Government will launch a General Registry of Bans on Access to Gambling (registry of those prohibited) and will urge the regional authorities to interconnect the information from their corresponding registries. -The Government will establish guidelines, in the digital field, for the safest and most responsible use of "non-fungible digital assets", that is, loot boxes or monetization mechanisms for video game users.

The 'loots' are received in exchange for a payment with virtual currency of the video game when overcoming challenges, although also, if you do not want to wait to get it, you can obtain it with real money.

-With the reform, the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users will also be modified, which was already reformed seven months ago, so that the sanctions that are imposed can be adapted to the economic capacity of the offending company, being these effective and dissuasive

-The infractions may range from minor (between 150 and 10,000 euros), serious (between 10,001 and 100,000) to very serious (from 100,001 to 1,000,000 euros), in which the temporary closure of establishments, facilities or services for a maximum period of five years.