‘Play responsibly’ will be replaced by much starker messaging.
Spain.- The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has announced that online gambling sites in Spain will be required to post much tougher warning messages about the dangers of addiction and the risk of losing money. Minister Pablo Bustinduy is imposing the new requirements through an amendment to Royal Decree 958/2020.
Under the new resolution and two annexes, which will be published by the Spanish gambling regulator, the DGOJ, in the coming days, operators will be required to display warning messages similar to those used on tobacco and alcohol products. These will replace the current safer gambling message of “Play responsibly”.
Three messages that will be used: “Addiction is a risk of gambling”, “The probability of being a losing gambler is 75%” and “The losses for all gamblers are four times greater than winnings”.
The messages must be visible and accessible, displayed on the main screens of gambling sites and apps as well as in online advertising, such as banners or videos on social media.
Bustinduy said: “The responsibility should not fall on users but on the authorities, who have the democratic duty to ensure that the environments they access are safe.”
He said the new measure seeks to “prevent existing inequalities from worsening, and even address them before they occur.”
“The largest concentrations of gambling venues are in neighborhoods with the lowest average incomes because there are unscrupulous economic operators who have no qualms about taking advantage of those in greater need, he adde, while suggesting that online gambling had the additional risk of easier access.
The government is also preparing a new Customer Service Law, which will include more measures intended to strengthen the regulation of gambling advertising. This includes a proposed ban on the use of celebrities in campaigns and the elimination of welcome bonuses aimed at young people.
According to the Ministry of Health, in 2022, 82 per cent of treatment admissions for behavioural addictions were for compulsive gambling.
However, the Spanish gambling industry has criticised the new warning messages as disproportionate. The online gambling trade body JDigital said comparison between gambling and tobacco were “difficult to justify” and noted that Spanish online gambling is highly monitored and controlled.
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