Balearic Islands passes new gaming rules

New regulations will put into place a number of player protection measures including the protection of minors as well as self exclusion programmes. Operators will also be required to clearly highlight the dangers of gambling addiction on their premises. The new regulations have already been looked on favourably by the EU.

Work, Trade and Industry Secretary for the Balearic Islands, Iago Negueruela, said: "The main development is that Brussels has given the approval to the casino regulations as well as sports betting halls, thus avoiding the concentration of new gambling halls in one street and it is also possible that each casino may have a branch on the island where it operates.”

Crucially the regulations allow each authorised casino to open an accessory gaming room as an appendix to the main venue, located outside the premises where the casino is located, and within the territorial scope of each island, which in no case may exceed 60 % of the area of the casino’s playing area.

Meanwhile, in order to avoid the over concentration of sports betting shops and gaming halls in the same location, new rules establish a minimum distance between them. These will stand at 500 meters in capital city Palma and 250 meters for the rest of the municipalities on the islands.

The four largest islands in the Balearics are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma as the capital city.

Source: GMB