Spain DGOJ Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego
This is Spain's online gambling regulator. The 2011 Gambling Act opened the market in 2012, and online slots were allowed in 2015. No new general license tenders have been held since 2018, so the only way into the market is by acquisition.
| English | Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego |
|---|---|
| Classification | Licenses & Regulation |
| Authority | Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) |
| Under | Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs |
| Location | Madrid, Spain |
| Legal basis | Gambling Act 13/2011 |
| Online market opened | June 2012 |
| Online slots allowed | 2015 |
| Licenses | General license (by sector) + single license (by game) |
| New tenders | None since 2018 (entry only by acquiring existing companies) |
| Tax | 20% of revenue (10% in Ceuta and Melilla) + 2% responsible gambling fund |
| 2024 market | Online revenue of 1.4536 billion euros (up 17.6% year over year) |
| Advertising | Royal Decree 958/2020, broadcast ads only from 1 to 5 a.m. |
| Self-exclusion | RGIAJ unified registry |
Overview
The DGOJ (Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego, the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling) is the government body that regulates online gambling in Spain. It currently belongs to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and is based in Madrid. Offline casinos and venues are managed separately by each autonomous region, while nationwide online gambling is handled by the DGOJ.
In 2011, Spain created Gambling Act 13/2011 and opened a licensed market for online betting, casino, poker, and bingo in June 2012. Online slots were initially left out and were additionally allowed in 2015. In 2024, Spanish online market revenue was €1,453.6 million, up 17.6% from the previous year, with online casino accounting for the largest share.
History
License structure
Spain divides licenses into two tiers.
| Type | Details |
|---|---|
| General license | Licenses by category (betting, other games, etc.), 10-year term |
| Individual licenses | Obtained separately for each game type, such as slots, roulette, blackjack, and poker |
Each general license usually requires a guarantee of 2 million euros. Importantly, no new general license tender has been opened since 2018. So to enter the market now, a company has to acquire a business that already holds a license.
Taxes
| Item | Tax rate |
|---|---|
| Online gambling tax | 20% of revenue |
| Operators based in Ceuta and Melilla | 10% of revenue |
| Responsible gambling fund | 2% |
Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish autonomous cities in North Africa, and some operators set up companies there because of tax benefits.
Advertising regulation
Royal Decree 958/2020, from 2020, is one of the strongest gambling advertising regulations in Europe.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Broadcast advertising | Only allowed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. |
| Sponsorship | Most sports team jersey and stadium naming sponsorships banned |
| Celebrities | Celebrities banned from appearing in gambling ads |
| Bonus | Bonus promotion to new sign-ups restricted |
This regulation made betting company jersey sponsorships disappear from Spain’s La Liga clubs.
Player protection
Spain operates a nationwide self-exclusion register called RGIAJ. Registering blocks access to all Spanish-licensed sites and offline venues. Operators must take measures such as setting deposit limits and detecting risky behavior, and a unified deposit limit system that works across operators is also being pursued.
Domain and game certification
Sites targeting Spanish players must use a “.es” domain. Slot games must pass testing by a certification body for each game and be registered with the DGOJ, so slot providers obtain separate certification for Spain.
Rating
Like Italy and Portugal, Spain is a leading example of “Southern European” regulation that requires a national domain and per-game certification. The market keeps growing, but new entry is blocked, so a structure centered on existing large operators is hardening. This contrasts with neighboring France, which bans online slots.
Location
The DGOJ is based in Madrid, the capital of Spain.