1. DGOJ Gambling Licences and Authorisations

DGOJ Gambling Licences and Authorisations

DGOJ activity index

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For general technical information on gambling licences procedures, consult the section for this purpose on the Directorate-General's website.

General gambling licences: granting, terminations and surrenders?Return to top

Since the creation and implementation of the Directorate-General, there have been three calls for the granting of general gambling licences.

  • Call in November 2011

Fifty-nine companies took part in the call for gambling licences requesting 98 general licences and 202 special licences, a total of 300 licences (Order EHA/3124/2011 to approve the rules of the call for general gambling licences for running bets, contests and other games, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 18 November 2011, and the Resolution of 16 November 2011 of the General Directorate of Gambling Regulation setting the procedure for applying and granting special licences).

In this call, 93 general licences were granted for running bets, contests and other games, and 189 special licences were granted for the corresponding types of games. This totals 282 licences granted to 55 licencee entities, of the initial 59 applicants.

  • Call in October 2014

With the publication of Order HAP/1995/2014, of 29 October, approving the terms of reference governing the call for general licences to carry on and operate gambling activities under Law 13/2011, of 27 May, on gambling regulation, the second process of granting general licences to carry on and operate national level gambling activities began for those entities interested in being gambling operators in Spain, or for those entities already holding a national level licence and wishing to expand their gambling offer.

The aforementioned Order also resulted in the entry into force of betting-exchange and slot machines, whose basic regulations were approved by the corresponding Orders in July 2014.

As a result of the process, 10 entities which did not have a general gambling licence were granted a total of 18 general licences. Likewise, there were a total of seven operators who already had gambling licences and obtained a total of seven general licences. Likewise, two requests were inadmissible as they did not meet the regulatory established requirements. Concurrent to this process, 36 licences for various types of gambling were requested, simultaneous to the general licences to which they are linked. Of these, in one case the applicant withdrew the request submitted, and seven were inadmissible either due to late submission or because the request for a general licence to which they were linked was rejected.

  • Call in December 2017

On 16 December 2017, Order HAP/1227/2017, of 5 December, was published in the official Spanish state gazette approving the terms of reference governing the third call for General Licences to carry on and operate gambling activities under Law 13/2011, of 27 May on gambling regulation.

The deadline for submitting applications for general licences ended one year after the day following the publication of the Order approving the aforementioned terms of reference, ending at 1:00pm on the last day of that period. The calculation of deadlines shall be based on the provisions of Article 30 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.

Once the corresponding deadline has expired, the aggregate summary of the results of the call will be incorporated?.

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Granting of new general licences
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? 2011 2014 Total
Other types of gambling 45 10 55
Betting 30 15 45
Contests 18 ? 18
Total 93 25 118

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Expiry and surrender of general? licences
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? 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
M R M R M R M R
Other types of gambling ? 2 ? 1 ? 1 1 4 9
Betting ? 4 ? 1 ? 2 ? 2 9
Contests ? 1 ? ? ? 2 1 4 8
Total ? 7 ? 2 ? 5 2 10 26

G. Expiry due to non-renewal of the guarantees (Article 42 RD 1614/2011)
R. Surrender

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Specific gambling licences: granting, terminations and surrenders?Return to top

The current procedure for requesting specific licences is that approved by Resolution of the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling on 1 December 2017, in accordance with Article 17 of Royal Decree 1614/2011, of 14 November, implementing Law 13/2011, of 27 May, on gambling regulation-LRJ, regarding gambling licences, authorisations and registers, establishes the application and issuing procedure for Specific Licences for the carrying on and operation of different types of gambling activities.

Prior to this there were two other procedures that regulated the granting of specific licences:

  • Resolution of 10 October 2014, by the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling, in accordance with Article 17 of Royal Decree 1614/2011, of 14 November, implementing Law 13/2011, of 27 May, on gambling regulation, regarding gambling licences, authorisations and registers, establishes the application and issuing procedure for Specific Licences to carry on and operate different types of gambling activities.
  • Resolution of 16 November 2011, by the Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling, in accordance with Article 17 of Royal Decree 1614/2011, of 14 November, implementing Law 13/2011, of 27 May, on gambling regulation, regarding gambling licences, authorisations and registers, and establishing the application and issuing procedure for Specific Licences to carry on and operate different types of gambling activities.

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Granting of new specific licences
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General Licence Specific Licence 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total
OTHER TYPES OF GAMBLING ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? Poker 29 ? ? ? ? ? 29
? Bingo 26 2 1 1 1 1 32
? Roulette 32 1 2 7 3 3 48
? Blackjack 29 2 3 6 2 4 46
? Additional games 7 ? ? ? ? ? 7
? Baccarat 21 1 ? 3 1 ? 26
? Slot machines ? ? ? 30 7 3 40
BETTING ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? Sports Pool Betting 7 2 ? 1 ? ? 10
? Horse Pool Betting ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? Sport fixed-odds betting 23 1 2 10 1 5 42
? Horse Fixed-odds Betting 10 2 2 3 ? 1 18
? Other Fixed-odds Betting 11 2 3 5 ? 3 24
? Sports betting-exchange ? ? ? 2 ? ? 2
? Other Exchange Betting ? ? ? 1 ? ? 1
CONTESTS ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? Contests 9 ? ? ? ? 1 10
Total ? 204 13 13 69 15 21 335

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Expiry and surrender of specific licences
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? 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total
A B R A B R A C D R A B D R A D R
LG - OTHER TYPES OF GAMBLING ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
LS - Poker 1 ? 1 1 ? 1 2 1 ? 3 4 ? ? ? 4 3 ? 21
LS - Bingo 2 2 1 ? ? ? ? ? ? 6 3 ? ? ? 6 3 ? 23
LS - Roulette ? 1 ? ? 1 1 ? ? 2 4 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 9
LS - Blackjack ? 1 ? ? 1 1 ? ? ? 5 ? ? 1 ? ? ? ? 9
LS - Additional Games ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? ? 1 ? ? 1 ? 3 ? 7
LS - Baccarat ? 3 ? ? ? ? ? 1 2 2 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1 9
LS - Slot Machines ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
LG - BETTING ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
LS - Sports Pool Betting ? 1 2 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? ? 2 1 ? 7
LS - Sport Fixed-odds Betting ? 1 2 ? 1 2 ? ? ? 2 ? 1 ? ? ? 2 ? 11
LS - Horse Fixed-odds Betting 1 1 1 1 ? 1 ? ? 1 1 ? ? 1 ? ? ? ? 8
LS - Other Fixed-odds Betting 4 ? 1 1 ? ? 1 ? ? 1 ? ? ? ? 1 ? ? 9
LG - CONTESTS ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
LS - Contests ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1 ? 3 ? ? ? ? 2 1 ? 7
Total 8 11 8 3 3 7? 3 3 5 28 8 1 2 1 15 13 1 120

A. Termination due to lack of use of a specific licence, for at least one year (Article 9.5 Law 13/2011)
B. Termination due to failure to obtain final authorisation of the specific licence (Article 17 RD 1614/2011)
C. Termination due to failure to renew guarantees (Article 42 RD 1614/2011)
D. Termination due to the specific licence term having expired without its renewal having been requested or it not being granted (Article 9.5 Law 13/2011)
R. Surrender

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Current specific licences by form of gambling 2013-2017

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Occasional gambling authorisations Return to top

Regarding the activity related to occasional gambling authorisations, the DGOJ’s activity is set out in the following tables:

Authorisation of occasional gambling activities
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? Authorised Denied Withdrawn Other
2013 4 ? 7 ?
2014 5 3 2 1
2015 5 2 6 2
2016 11 ? 1 4
2017 10 3 6 5

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Authorisation of lottery games
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2012 Request from SPANISH RED CROSS
– Sorteo del Oro 2012
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 14 March 2012
– Sorteo del Oro 2013
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 5 December 2013
Request from SOCIEDAD ESTATAL LOTERíAS Y APUESTAS DEL ESTADO
– Marketing “Gordo de la Primitiva” through the Dominican Republic National? Lottery
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 27 July 2012
– Marking of “Joker”
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 30 July 2012
Request from ORGANIZACIóN NACIONAL DE CIEGOS ESPA?OLES (ONCE - SPANISH NATIONAL ORGANISATION FOR THE BLIND)
– Lottery project (“Eurojackpot)
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 4 June 2012
2013 Request from SPANISH RED CROSS
– Sorteo del Oro 2014
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 20 December 2013
Request from SOCIEDAD ESTATAL LOTERíAS Y APUESTAS DEL ESTADO
?– Modification of game (“Joker”: Primitiva Lottery/Euromillions Group)
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 20 December 2013
OTHER ORGANISATIONS
- 4 draw requests
?File resolution for the four proceedings
2014 Request from SPANISH RED CROSS
– Sorteo del Oro 2015
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 9 January 2015
OTHER ORGANISATIONS
- 4 draw requests
?File resolution for the four proceedings
2015 Request from SPANISH RED CROSS
– Sorteo del Oro 2016
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 12 January 2016
Request from SOCIEDAD ESTATAL LOTERíAS Y APUESTAS DEL ESTADO
?- Request for non-occasional lottery games
?Report of Articles 24 and 25 of RD 1614/2011
OTHER ORGANISATIONS
- 10 draw requests
2016 ORGANIZACIóN IMPULSORA DE DISCAPACITADOS (OID - ORGANISATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE DISABLED)
– 2 requests for non-occasional gambling
?Both rejected
Request from SOCIEDAD ESTATAL LOTERíAS Y APUESTAS DEL ESTADO
?- Request for non-occasional lottery games
?Report of Articles 24 and 25 of RD 1614/2011
2017 Request from SPANISH RED CROSS
– Sorteo del Oro 2017
?Approved through MINISTERIAL ORDER on 13 January 2017

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Authorisation of type B slot machines. Ro-ro passenger ships
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(Ro-ro passenger ships) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Authorisation for installation on ships ? 11 8 17 ?
Authorisation due to change of location 5 4 7 15 9
Authorisation for installation of machines ? 3 2 23 4
Renewal of licence term 7 1 7 1 ?
Authorisation of tax exchanges ? 8 5 3 13
Total 12 27 29 59 26

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DGOJ activity index