The Supreme Court has ruled that the appeal against the nationwide limit on gambling ads can proceed to a constitutional review.

Spain.- Jdigital, the Spanish online gambling trade association, has reported that its appeal against the country’s royal decree on gambling ads is to move forward. The Supreme Court has decided that the appeal should get a constitutional review.

In November, Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs introduced restrictions limiting gambling advertising to between the hours of 1am and 5am. The igaming association Jdigital launched an appeal against the measure together with Spanish media body the Asociación de Medios de Información (AMI). They claim that the royal decree should have received constitutional approval before it could be imposed.

Jdigital and AMI claim that such approval would not be forthcoming since the royal decree breaches article 53 of the Spanish Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms. The two bodies also claim that the ban on gambling ads was a “disproportionate” and “ineffective” solution.

Spain’s gambling ad restrictions also prohibit gambling sponsorship in all sports, with the exception of hookups with state-owned lottery operators. Jdigital, which represents 80 per cent of the Spanish online gambling market, has heavily criticised Spain’s ad restrictions from when they were first submitted to the European Union in 2020.

Spanish MPs will vote on granting regulator betting integrity controls

Earlier this month, the Congress of Deputies of Spain approved a motion for a full vote on proposed changes to gambling legislation that would give the state greater control over monitoring betting fraud and corruption in sports. The changes were to be approved by a health commission but will now get a full vote.

Chief among the proposals are new powers for the Spanish gambling regulator, the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), which would take control of collecting operator data related to sports betting integrity and sports corruption. Operators would need to give the DGOJ data on market movements, suspicious betting patterns and signs of potential fraud.