The fines, mostly imposed on foreign companies, have totaled EUR 65.3m.
Spain.- The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has sanctioned 15 operators in the online betting and gambling sector during the first half of the year for serious or very serious infringements of the Gaming Regulation Law (LRJ). The fines, mostly imposed on foreign companies, have amounted to a total of EUR 65.3m.
Of the 15 resolutions issued by the General Directorate for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), 13 have been classified as "very serious" and comprise the majority of the amounts claimed by the ministry. In addition to the monetary penalties, EUR 5m each, the closure of the 13 web portals for a period of two years has been decreed. These are the cases of the companies Interactive Pro, Stars Cream, Loveca Sino, Rougeca Sino, Mountberg, Alimanieri, Goldenpharaoh, Goldenlion, Golden Genie, Bigwins Games Tech, Games & More, Gladiator Holding, and R.Bostock Enterprises. According to a press release confirmed by Consumer Affairs, all of them are foreign companies that operated without a license in Spain.
The DGOJ has also detected serious infringements in two other operators in the online betting and gambling sector during the first six months of 2024. The resolutions considered "serious" are directed at operators who do operate with a license, but who commit some type of typified infringement. The companies Codere and Electraworks are the ones sanctioned. In these cases, the total of the two fines amounts to EUR 325,000.
See also: Scandal in the State Lotteries of Spain: investigation into alleged rigging in public contests
As a result of the latest amendment to the LRJ, which establishes that firm serious and very serious infractions in the administrative route will be published on the DGOJ website, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has made public the sanctioning resolutions that have become firm since July 2021.
