If you’re a Spanish facing online gambling operator, you might want to study up on the habits of Spanish night owls. That’s because the Spanish government is getting ready to impose a harsh new set of regulations that would limit advertisements for online gambling to a four-hour window beginning at 1 a.m.
The new regulations are not written into law yet, but the Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs Alberto is meeting with representatives of the industry to discuss the new proposal. These new limitations for gambling ads are just part of a larger revamp of regulations being considered by Garzón’s department.
Under the proposed new regulations, operators would not only be limited in when they could advertise on television, but also when they could advertise on the web. The particulars of that end of the discussion have not yet been made public.
Online operators are not, however, the only folks in the gambling business that the Spanish government has its eyes on. It’s expected that land-based operators will get some regulatory attention in the coming months as well. Though what level of regulation they’ll face versus their online counterparts is yet to be determined.
It’s worth noting that all Spanish online gambling would be subject to the new regulatory schema. That includes the national lottery and charity-based gambling operations.
Spain is just one of many European countries that have been cracking down on established advertising practices by industry operators. In the UK, similar regulatory reform has had a big impact on the way operators hawk their wares and by the looks of it, Spanish operators will be in the same boat very soon.