Last Draft of Spanish Gambling Laws One Vote Away from Finalization

After a lengthy, and often time heated battle between the country’s multitude of philosophically opposed political parties, the final draft of Spanish gambling laws is just two steps away from becoming enacted.

The two year long process was marred by political posturing from all parties: from accusations of treason to counter accusations of corporate panhandling. A shaky consensus finally gave birth to the current draft which was approved in mid April 2011 by the Finance Committee of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

After moving through the labyrinth of the complex an often confusing Spanish legislative process, the multiple drafts of the gambling laws along with 269 attached amendments, finally reached the Senate Finance Committee.

The Committee having already created their own version of the bill, joined the two together as well as removed all but 110 amendments that required the full vote of the Senate.

On May 4 2011, the Spanish Senate approved most of the amendments favored by AEDAPI, the Spanish gambling industry’s trade association. The bill will now return to the Congress of Deputies for a final binding vote to either accept or reject the Senate’s version before the end of June.

The signature of the King of Spain is required before the bill officially becomes the Gambling Act, which is a mere formality.

The final version of Spanish gambling laws will regulate, with two exceptions, all forms of online, mobile and traditional gambling within the country.

The Senate rejected the very popular live gaming amendment, which would have allowed residents to legally bet on sports in Spain while the game was already in progress.

The Spanish online gambling law will require all licensed online casinos to use the .es internet extension for easier regulation. Unfortunately no language was included to regulate online bingo games in Spain, thereby making it illegal.

As it was, the aristocratic members of the Spanish Senate had a difficult time comprehending what exactly are ‘re-triggered 20 bonus spins with an x4 multiplier’ at online slot casinos. The final version of the Spanish gambling bill, as of now, is the most comprehensive and fair out of any mainland European country.