Mikel Arana Etxezarreta
Director-General of the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ)
Mikel Arana Etxezarreta is a Spanish lawyer and former Basque politician who serves as Director General for the Regulation of Gambling at Spain's gambling regulator, the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ). He holds a law degree from the University of the Basque Country and an MBA from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. He is fluent in Basque, Spanish, English, and Italian.
Before his regulatory career, Arana Etxezarreta was a prominent figure in Basque politics as a member of Ezker Batua-Berdeak (EB). He served on the party's presidency from 2001 and became its spokesperson in 2003. He also held a government position as Director of Services in the Basque Department of Housing and Social Affairs.
Since taking the helm of the DGOJ, Arana Etxezarreta has been an active voice in European gambling regulation. He has spoken at major industry conferences such as SiGMA, Bet on Ceuta, and the Payments, Fraud & Compliance Gaming Leaders' Summit, where he advocates for responsible gaming and cross-regulator cooperation.