No More Legal Online Bingo in Spain

As Spain is possibly the next Greece, about to sink like the Titanic, the country’s politicians are behaving so erratically, that it looks as if they were already hit by an iceberg. As we wrote before, starting today, June 1st, the Spanish gambling laws are changing.

Now, the online casinos in Spain, as well as sportsbooks, will need to have a license issued by Spain in order to offer betting to Spanish residents. The sites also will need to have their domains end with .es. No longer sites ending with .com or .co.uk can legally operate gambling in the country.

There is one gap in the new laws and it is a deadly gap for online bingo in Spain. According to the laws, there is no mention of it. In effect, it means that if the law doesn’t cover it, it is not legal. At least not in Spain. This leaves the bingoheads in the dust.

When it comes to bets on sports in Spain, live betting is no longer possible. This leaves many punters upset, especially since Euro 2012 and London Olympics are coming.

Poker has also been assaulted. Spanish poker players will be able to continue to play online poker in Spain but can no longer participate in international tournaments. That kills off much of the fun.

Such sleazy making of the laws doesn’t help Spain win new investments. After all, the country is looking for billions of dollars for casino resort investment from Sheldon Adelson, a gambling industry tycoon.