Spain Licensed Casinos Online

Online casinos cannot operate on their own. They should be properly regulated and controlled. That’s why in order to provide the gambling activities to players, each online casino should get a corresponding license. However, obtaining a license doesn’t mean that the casino can operate in any country since there may be some significant differences in the gambling laws of different countries. The casinos should apply for the local license if they want to operate in certain territories. Spain is a shining example of that. In this country, online gambling is regulated by the La Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego, which is Spanish for The Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling. So, let’s see how the Commission works.

How does the Commission Work?

The Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling is a part of the Ministry of Finance and is in charge of regulation, licensing, authorization, examination, control, and even sanctioning gambling operators and gambling activities in Spain. Here are some of the main functions of the regulatory body:

• Authorization of new gambling forms at a state level.
• Establishing the requirements for the businesses that want to apply for the Spanish license.
• Establishing the fees linked to obtaining the Spanish gambling licenses.
• Performing regular inspections of the casinos with Spanish Gaming Commission License and of the technical systems they are using.
• Reviewing online gambling licenses in Spain and extending/denying them.
• Penalizing online casinos licensed in Spain for breaking the gambling laws.
• Establishing annual financial reports related to the online gambling market in Spain.
• Working together with other respectable regulatory bodies in the field of prevention of fraud.
• Analyzing and studying new ways of preventing illegal online gambling.
• Carrying out studies and research works on the impact of online gambling on society, etc.

Application Requirements & Compliance Highlights

The main purpose of the licensing procedure is to ensure that the applicant has successfully fulfilled all the requirements set in current legislation. To be exact, there are requirements of legal, technical, and economic nature. Only after meeting all the requirements, the gambling operators may count on getting a license from the Spanish Gambling Commission.

As for the legal requirements, the company that wishes to apply for the Spanish license should be in the public limited or limited liability form and have a sole corporate purpose. The gambling companies should also have the capital of no less than €100,000 and be registered at the Spanish Commercial Register or the equivalent register.

Now, let’s take a look at the economic/financial requirements. All the applicants should be able to provide the Commission with all the financial states required for obtaining the license. They also should prepare the annual accounts, the statements of the company’s turnover over the last three years, and the description of the sources of all financial resources owned by the company.

There are also many technical requirements which should be met by the applicants. For example, each gambling operator should provide the Commission with the statement on the company’s technical staff, on the average annual staff, and on the available technical systems. The applicants should also prove the professionalism of their managers who are in charge of supervising gambling activities. The description of all data protection technologies and security measures should be prepared as well. Besides, all Spanish Gaming Commission casinos should have “.es” in their domain.

As a rule, the regulatory bodies have different types of licenses. They may differ in duration, licensing object, permitted activities, and other aspects. For example, there may be licenses that are issued to the online casino and the licenses that are issued to the casino owner. Some jurisdictions require casino operators to obtain a separate license for each type of gambling activity. So, the Spanish Gambling Commission also has two main types of licenses. These are a general license and a special license. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

General License

The General license should be obtained by each business that wants to enter the Spanish gambling market. It’s like a ticket that allows gambling operators to conduct gambling activities under the Spanish jurisdiction. While issuing the general license, the Spanish Gambling Commission relies heavily on the principles of equality, competition, transparency, fairness, openness, non-discrimination, and advertising. All these principles are mentioned in the rules of applying for the Spain casino license that is laid down in the Official State Gazette. Thus, online casino operators can be absolutely sure that the licensing procedure is safe and fair.

The general license can be granted through an open public tender, which is initiated by the Spanish Gambling Commission. However, the licensing procedure can also be initiated by the request of the casino operator itself. In this case, the Spanish Gambling Commission has 6 months to start the pre-license monitoring and the licensing procedure. If the Commission decides that the interests of the gambling operator do not comply with the public interests, it may refuse to start the procedure. In any case, the applicants are being thoroughly tested, and the licensing procedure itself is transparent and fair. The general license is valid for 10 years and can be extended for another decade.

Special License

As well as the General license, each gambling operator should obtain the Special Gambling License from Spanish Gaming Commission. In fact, the operator is not allowed to conduct gambling activities with the general license only. The general and special licenses always go together. While the general license allows businesses to enter the gambling market and conduct gambling activities, the special license allows them to run each of the gambling activities mentioned in the general license, excluding the state-run lotteries.

The special license can be obtained only by the holders of the general license. The duration of the special license is from one to five years, and it can be extended for the same period after its expiration. Also, the Spanish Gambling Commission can call off the special license in case the casino operator does not adhere to the Spain online gambling laws and regulations.

Besides the general and special licenses, the Commission can also grant the so-called permits. These are actually the “one-time licenses” that allow a particular company to conduct a particular gambling activity in a particular place and at a particular time.

Each licensing body is created with the purpose of ensuring safe, fair, and responsible gambling. The Spanish Gambling Commission is not an exception. Just like any other reputable gambling authority, the Commission is working according to the principles of players protection, fair and responsible gaming, funds protection, and fulfilling the obligations. The licensing procedure, in turn, shows that all these principles are fully respected.

Players Protection

Gambling is definitely fun. However, there are many players, for whom gambling has become a problem. That’s why the Spanish Gambling Commission is concerned with the anti-addiction measures. The online casinos regulated by the Spanish Gaming Commission should be taking action to reduce the number of addicts. For example, the casino may implement some self-prohibition programs, limit the amount of money a player can deposit each day/month, and prevent the juveniles from being involved in gambling. There are also many tools that help players limit their time spent in online casinos.

Fair Gaming

The games of chance should be conducted fairly, and their outcomes should not depend on anything but the RNG technology. The applicants should have the certified RNG technology and other important technical systems which help them provide the gambling activities fairly. If you are playing in the casino that operates under the Spanish online gambling jurisdiction and holds the Spanish license, you can be sure that it has successfully passed all the tests and proven to be fair.

Funds Protection

As we have already mentioned, each gambling operator that wants to get on the list of casinos regulated by Spanish Gaming Commission should prove that it’s using all the necessary data protection technologies. It should be safe for players to deposit their money and then withdraw their winnings. Thus, most licensed Spain Online Casinos are protected with the advanced SSL encryption technology, which helps to keep all your funds safe by encoding all the information you send to the casino.

Operator Responsibilities

By obtaining a Spanish license, the operators also take on certain obligations that are laid down on the Commission’s official website. These include but are not limited to paying all the fees related to conducting gambling activities, approving and improving the technical systems, ensuring the safety of gambling, ensuring the randomness of the game outcomes, reducing the negative impact of gambling on society, preventing money laundering, etc.