Mikel Arana, head of Spain’s gambling regulator DGOJ, has urged licensed operators to make progress connecting to the country’s shared deposit-limit system, warning that the time left for technical adaptation is shrinking. He also defended the regulator’s approach to gambling controls and said a wider reform of the Gambling Act remained on its agenda.
Arana spoke at the Gaming in Spain conference in Madrid as Spain faces political uncertainty. After Congress rejected his housing measures, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election last week. It is his third election as prime minister, and he is seeking to strengthen the Socialist Party, PSOE, within a fragile coalition. Junts joined the Conservative Party PP and VOX in opposing the measures.
Working with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the DGOJ is pursuing tighter controls for licensed online gambling. Arana said three initiatives had been approved and published: joint deposit limits under Royal Decree 520/2026, mandatory risk warnings in gambling advertising, and checks that payment methods belong to the registered account holder. A fourth measure is in its final processing stage.
“Three regulatory initiatives have already been approved and officially published. The fourth one is in the final stage of processing,” Arana said. He added that the regulator remained committed to presenting its reform proposal before the end of the legislative term.
Shared limits and operator readiness
The joint limits are €700 per day, €1,750 per week and €3,300 over four weeks. They are scheduled to take effect on 25 March 2027, after a six-month period for technical testing and integration.
Arana said operators had not yet connected to the system effectively and across the market. “The time available to complete the necessary technical adaptation is progressively decreasing,” he said, adding that it was for each operator to decide when to carry out the required changes as a licensing duty.
Advertising and market evidence
Arana also outlined the DGOJ’s assessment of Spain’s online gambling advertising framework since 2020. He said tighter controls had changed operators’ commercial strategies but had not stopped the regulated market from growing. The assessment found no general pattern of market closures or operator exclusion. By 2025, around 80% of recorded advertising investment went to digital channels, while businesses put more emphasis on retention and reactivation.
He criticised trade body Jdigital for not participating actively in the early stages of drafting the Gambling Act reforms, when stakeholders have more opportunity to influence proposals. The assessment also found illegal gambling’s share of identified deposits remained below 2.3% in several half-year periods, challenging claims that advertising restrictions necessarily push customers to unlicensed operators.
Arana said the regulated market remained profitable and continued to grow, but that increasing spending warranted scrutiny. “The business model consists of increasing spending, not necessarily the number of players,” he said. He said future rules should examine commercial incentives aimed at young adults under 24, arguing that search and marketing stimuli are particularly effective with people new to the market.
