Spanish regulator to push for new licensing window
Juan Espinosa Garcia tells EGR Intel growing interest in Spanish market could see licences up for grabs later this year
Spain’s gambling regulator is considering calling on government to re-open its licensing window amid growing demand from operators to enter the expanding market, EGR Intel has learned.
Speaking exclusively to EGR Intel, the recently installed director general of Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), Juan Espinosa Garcia, said the market could soon re-open its licensing process for the first time since 2015.
“Regulatory-wise we are constrained by the closed timeframe to apply for a general licence, pending the relevant call for the Minister of Finance,” Garcia told EGR Intel, when asked to comment on the growth of the market.
“We have already been approached by potentially interested operators and most likely will suggest the Minister to call for a new procedure over the course of the year.”
Operators hoping to apply for a licence would be required to have a base within the European Economic Area, which could prove troublesome for UK and Gibraltar-based operators in light of Brexit.
At present, operators looking to enter the market must do so through the formation of joint-ventures or via mergers and acquisitions – Betsson recently agreed to buy locally licensed operator Premier Casinos in order to gain access to Spanish customers.
Spanish revenues increased by a third to €429m in 2016, with sportsbook and casino up 32% and 73% year-on-year respectively. Turnover also surpassed the €10bn mark.
The general director put this growth down to a predictable and reliable regulatory environment, the introduction of slots, and the general assimilation of gambling activities by the Spanish society.
In an interview with EGR Intel earlier this week, Garcia also said his aim was for the Spanish market to achieve 90% channelisation “over the course of the next couple of years.”
However, Garcia indicated the country’s 25% tax on GGR was unlikely to be lowered after he expressed the value of “high intensity tax returns allowing economic activity”.