The contagion which started with action being taken against FOBT’s in the UK, then spread to Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Latvia, has now taken hold in Spain.
The UK has already announced a ban on the use of credit cards for online gambling and its government now proposes a full review of the 2005 Act. Among specific proposals is a complete prohibition of gambling advertising and sponsorship of sports teams by gambling companies. Some would like to see a review of stakes and prizes of both online and land-based slot machines. And most of these proposals enjoy the support of all major political parties.
Italy’s government imposed a reduction in the number of Comma 6A gambling machines in the market and stricter controls over their location. This was been followed up with a tax increase and a ban on all gambling advertising. Surprisingly, online gambling continued to see growth; GGR for that sector totalled almost €1.8 billion in 2019, although that represented only approximately 10% of the entire gambling market. The growth was achieved in the face of the advertising ban, possibly because online gambling still represents a relatively small part of the Italian gambling market and has quite some way to grow to reach the levels seen in the UK.
Germany introduced controls on the location and the size of its gambling arcades, which led to a reduction in the number of street machines and arcades. Not surprisingly casino revenue has soared; land-based GGR in 2019 was up 25% and attendance up 13%. Now, as part of the new regulations for online gambling, there are proposals for online slots to have the same characteristics as slot machines in arcades: €1 stake limit, no jackpots, and a minimum reel spin of 5 seconds.
Now it is Spain’s turn. Spain is made up of 17 autonomous regions, with each region having the responsibility for many areas of government, including culture, environment, communications, health, transportation, commerce, public safety, and certain areas of taxation. Gambling policy is a generally the responsibility of the regional governments. One exception is online gambling – the National Government decided that it should take responsibility for that sector because the customers and the operators could each be in different regions.
A number of Spain’s regions, including Madrid, Castilla La Mancha, and Pais Vasco (Basque Country), want to reduce the number of Salones de Juegos (slot arcades) as well as arcades which also offer sports betting. There has been an increase in the number in recent years, with no control on the number of licenses issued or where arcades are located. Because arcades have been able to link jackpots, the legal limits on maximum prizes for individual machines are ineffective. Both members of the public and politicians have raised concerns over arcades being located near schools and churches. These three regions in Spain, and others, have proposed a moratorium on new licenses and are exploring ways to reduce the number of existing venues.
At the national level, the new Consumer Affairs Minister, Alberto Garzón, who is from the far-left Unidas Podemos party, has proposed a shake-up regarding how gambling is to be regulated. His ideas include a ban on the use of credit cards and a total ban on advertising, plus a wide-ranging review of how both land-based and online gambling are regulated. In a recent interview he said that he believes gambling is a legitimate economic activity but that where gambling advertising is concerned, there are no rules and it is “chaos”.
In Spain, nothing is straightforward. The Spanish National Government lacks the concentrated, nation-wide powers that is possessed by other central governments, like that in France. The responsibility for most gambling matters has been devolved to the Regional Governments. Therefore, it is not possible for the National Government to simply impose its will on its regions; trying to do so would cause huge problems. Already Albert Sola Maristany, the owner of gambling arcade and single site machine operator Grupo Solplay, has attacked Garzón for what he says is a “land grab” of power away from the regions. Mr Sola was the past head of PATROJOC, the Catalan trade organisation representing private gambling operators.
Five regional governments are controlled by Partido Popular, the main political party that is in opposition at the national level. Those regional governments would most likely oppose measures by the National Government to usurp their power. However, it may be politically difficult for opposition politicians to frame their disagreement with Garzón’s proposals as something positive, given the current climate surrounding gambling.
Also, regions such as Cataluña and Pais Vasco have strong nationalist parties that are seeking independence. They will not take it lightly any attempts by the National Government to impose its will on those regions.
The issue is further complicated by the make-up of the national parliament. In order to govern, the government needs the support of the majority of the 350 seat Congress of Deputies. The current Government is a coalition between the PSOE (Socialists) with 120 seats and Unidas Podemos (far left) with 35 seats. Those of you who are quick at mathematics will notice the two parties, combined, do not constitute a majority. The coalition must rely on the support of 12 deputies from some of the smaller political parties, plus no opposition (that is, abstentions) on major policy matters from the ten Deputies from ERC, the pro Catalan independence party, and from the five Deputies from EH Bildu, a Basque pro-independence party.
The fear of many in Spain is that these Basque and Catalan nationalist parties will extract a very high price for not voting against major legislation proposed by the coalition. It is not yet clear what the price of that support will be. There is likely to be a great deal of horse trading in the coming months, so long as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez can hold his fragile coalition together and remain in power. It may that obtaining sufficient political support for Garzon’s proposals for gambling is just too difficult and they will be quickly traded away. Or the government may fall before an agreement on the proposals can be reached. The Spanish gambling industry had better hope for one of those scenarios; otherwise the contagion will have successfully spread to Spain.
