Outlook is mixed-to-positive. The market is growing strongly, but a draft amendment to Ley 13/2011 aims to restore the advertising restrictions annulled by the Supreme Court in 2024, and RD 176/2023's mandatory risk-detection algorithm is expected to be deployed in 2026. A voluntary cross-operator deposit-cap mechanism is also under development. Regulatory direction is tightening on player protection while easing on advertising legal certainty.
Jurisdictions › Spain › Outlook
Spain · Question 11 of 11
Outlook: What is coming?
Mixed · Probable · Not reviewed · 3 post-review updates · Not reviewed · Back to full Spain report →
Key section parameters
| Jurisdiction | Spain (ES) |
|---|---|
| Regulator | DGOJ |
| Favourability | Mixed |
| Confidence | Probable |
| Review status | Not reviewed · 3 post-review updates · Not reviewed |
| Last collected | 18 Oct 2026 |
Summary answer
Outlook is mixed-to-positive. The market is growing strongly, but a draft amendment to Ley 13/2011 aims to restore the advertising restrictions annulled by the Supreme Court in 2024, and RD 176/2023's mandatory risk-detection algorithm is expected to be deployed in 2026. A voluntary cross-operator d…
Not reviewed Information added after the 2 Sep 2026 expert review — published for currency and labelled not reviewed.
Two forward-dated reforms are in train for Spain. Real Decreto 520/2026's joint, cross-operator deposit-limit system takes legal effect on 25 March 2027, already enacted but not yet in force. The DGOJ's draft Resolution on a common, consent-independent risk-detection mechanism remains at consultation stage, with the reopened consultation window running 14 to 22 October 2026; the draft has been shaped by AEPD opinion 015/2026, which required a data protection impact assessment and a ban on commercial use of risk categorisations. A separately reported initiative by DGOJ or the Ministerio de Consumo to reform Ley 13/2011, Spain's foundational gambling statute, has been referenced in commentary, but no bill text has been located, so confidence that a formal legislative process has commenced remains limited. Watch the 22 October 2026 consultation close and the 25 March 2027 commencement date as the two concrete markers most likely to move the compliance picture next.
The dissolution of the Cortes ahead of the 29 November 2026 snap election has halted parliamentary processing of the comprehensive reform of Ley 13/2011. No Anteproyecto text has been published as of early October 2026, despite a public pre-consultation that closed on 22 June 2026 and DGOJ stakeholder meetings that ran through September 2026. The DGOJ can continue administrative and technical drafting work on the reform, but Parliament is unavailable to carry a bill through to enactment during the current legislature. Near-term regulatory change for Spain is accordingly more likely to continue arriving through royal decree or DGOJ resolution, as it did with Real Decreto 813/2026 and the advertising harm-warning resolution, than through the stalled primary-legislation track.
Two parallel reform tracks are active in Spain this cycle. An Anteproyecto de Ley amending Ley 13/2011, the general gambling law, is in tramitación, with the DGOJ holding meetings with sector associations in July 2026. Separately, a Proyecto de modificación of RD 304/2014, the implementing regulation for the AML statute Ley 10/2010, is also in tramitación as of Q2 2026. Together these two tracks represent a coordinated forward-looking tightening across both general gambling regulation and AML-specific implementing rules, and their progress should be monitored closely by any operator planning entry or expansion timelines in Spain.