Spain set to grant more online casino licences

Although a date is yet to be announced by Spain’s minister of the economy Luis de Guindos, the country’s lawmakers are expected to invite online gambling operators to apply for licences later in the year.

If the plans go ahead, it will mark the third time Spain has set a time period for applications. The last occasion being 2014, when the country issued ten licences.

The upcoming licensing window is expected to run alongside the amendment of several related regulations.

"Every time there is a new licensing process in Spain it comes with changes in regulation,” said Santiago Asensi, co-founder of Spanish law firm Asensi Abogados.

In 2014, for example, the licensing window was accompanied by the legalisation to online slot-type games.

Following last month’s agreement between Spain, Portugal, Spain and Italy to allow online poker operators to combine player pools from across the four countries, shared liquidity is expected to be addressed by lawmakers.

Asensi added that the Spanish Gambling Authority would need to introduce "secondary” regulations that would allow pooled web-based poker liquidity.

Additionally, other topics up for discussion include fresh game modalities that could remove restrictions on operators that limit their offer of blackjack variants. Fantasy sports are also up for debate, which are currently illegal in the Spanish market.

Last year, the Spanish online casino market was worth almost US$ 430m in gaming revenue, marking an increase of more than 30 % from 2015.

Source: GMB / Betting-business.co