Spanish gambling regulator names projects to receive funding for research

The DGOJ says 26 projects will be funded.

Spain.- The Spanish gambling regulator, the DGOJ, has announced that funding will be provided to 26 research projects into gambling harm. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has allotted €1.3m of funding for academic studies that aim to improve understanding of gambling disorders.

The DGOJ’s Evaluation Commission and the state research agency AEI oversaw the tender process and picked out the 26 projects. Recipients of the grants include the University of Oviedo and University Castilla La Mancha, whose research will focus on the early detection of risks and identifying behaviours related to gambling disorders. 

Meanwhile, the University of the Church of Deusto will research the impact of gender on risky gaming and the University of Santiago de Compostela will research data and record keeping. The Universidad Complutense of Madrid will oversee several projects on protections for young people, including research on the potential crossover between video gaming and gambling.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs presented its Prevalence Study of Gambling on the General Public of Spain to public health stakeholders on its Responsible Gambling Advisory Council. The study compiles data from 20,000 surveys in Spain’s 17 autonomous communities.

The study estimates that 49.5 per cent of the Spanish population of 47.5 million engages in some form of gambling. Of these people, 97 per cent engage in gambling in person and 6.6 per cent online. Some 81 per cent of people said they only played on lotteries.

The penetration of online gambling was greatest among male players in the 26-to-35 (23.7 per cent) and 35-to-45 (23.2 per cent) age groups. However, the 18-to-25 cohort engaged in more online gambling services than land-based, showing a change in habits in the young generation.