Spain's gambling regulator publishes 2025 activity report with regional rule comparison

Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has released its 2025 Gambling Activity Report, which for the first time includes an annex comparing the differing rules enforced across the country’s 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities. The annex was developed in cooperation with regional authorities and endorsed by the Gambling Policy Council in June — the coordination body established under the 2011 Gambling Act.

Spain’s gambling governance is split: the DGOJ oversees operations that span more than one community, principally the nationally licensed online market, while each region regulates land-based activities such as casinos, betting shops, bingo halls and gaming machines within its own borders. This dual structure has produced inconsistencies in permitted games, licensing conditions, advertising limits and player-protection measures. An operator active in several regions may face separate territorial requirements alongside national rules.

The new annex consolidates the key elements of those regional frameworks in a single document. It lists the current legislation for each territory, the authorised forms of gambling, and details of the self-exclusion registers that each region maintains. The DGOJ said the content and format were agreed after two years of collaboration with the autonomous authorities, and future editions will be expanded as more information is shared through the Gambling Policy Council.

Market performance and research funding

The report also presents consolidated data for both national and regional markets. Spain’s regulated online sector continued its upward trend, with gross gaming revenue (GGR) reaching €1.7bn ($1.98bn) in 2025, a 16.99% year-on-year increase. Online casino drove much of the growth, remaining the largest vertical in the first quarter of 2026 with €247.8m in GGR — 54.56% of the quarterly total. Overall online GGR for Q1 2026 stood at €454.2m, up 13.9% year-on-year.

Earlier this month, the DGOJ allocated more than €1m to 20 research projects investigating gambling disorders, associated risks and preventive measures under its 2025 research grant programme.