EU-Regulated National
Spain licence.
DGOJ
Mature operators with M&A budget or patience for the next tender.
What the regulator asks for
Year one cost
€2.5m+ Year 1 (mostly guarantees)
Application: €38k technical reports + €10k licence + €2,500 register. Financial guarantee €2m for general betting/games, €500k for contests. The cost is the guarantee, not the licence.
Timeline
Tender-dependent (no current window)
Spain does not run rolling licensing. Article 10(1) of Law 13/2011 requires an 18-month minimum gap between tenders. The last tender opened December 2017 and closed in 2018. Three tenders total (2011, 2014, 2017). New entrants can only enter via M&A or wait for the next call.
Gaming tax
20% GGR (10% in Ceuta and Melilla). General licence valid 10 years (renewable once); singular licences 3-5 years. Approximately 78 licensed operators (DGOJ register).
Marketing climate
Royal Decree 958/2020 imposes one of Europe's strictest advertising regimes. Ads largely confined to 1am-5am. Bonus advertising tightly restricted. Influencer marketing highly constrained. Royal Decree 176/2023 added safer-gambling environments.
The market
Spain is structurally closed to new entrants outside tender windows. The DGOJ runs a competent, technocratic regime, but the licence-via-tender mechanism plus the 2020 advertising clampdown have made it an established-incumbents market.
How the application runs
When a tender opens: dossier including ownership, technical certification, business plan, and financial guarantee. Otherwise: acquire an existing licensed entity.
Ongoing compliance
Mandatory player tracking via DGOJ API. National self-exclusion (RGIAJ). AML under Law 10/2010. Real-time transactional data link.
What you can and cannot say
Window-restricted ads. No celebrities. No bonuses in advertising. Sponsorship of sports kits banned. Affiliate liability pushed onto operators.
The honest read
What it means for your plan
Closed by design until the next tender. If you are not already in Spain and not planning M&A, this is not your near-term market. When the next window opens, expect intense competition and tightening conditions.
How to open an online casino here
The step by step for Spain: entity, application, key function holders, documents, systems, and the audit before go live.
Read the Spain guide
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