regulate the advertising gambling and sports betting online is not a simple matter. In fact, it has been pending since the law that regulates the activity was approved in 2011. Up to three have been made different draftstwo by PP governments and another by the last Executive of the PSOE, but none of them have been approved, given the conflicting interests between the business sector and the need to protect citizens from an activity that can generate pathological gambling. But a good part of society has sounded the alarm about the proliferation of betting shops and the advertising blitz. And echoing this demand, the new Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzonwants to put an end to the spots as soon as possible, since face-to-face gambling is the responsibility of the Autonomous Communities.
In fact, within a week or so your department will publish a new draft of royal decree, so that the affected sectors can present allegations. Until now, only the first two projects had been submitted to the public consultation process. The PSOE agreed with United We Can that would equate the advertising of the game to that of the tobacco or alcohol and would prohibit famous characterslike Carlos Sobera, star in the announcements, but did not submit these and other initiatives to the mandatory consultation nor did they reach the Council of Ministers.
at least one year
Garzón therefore steps on the accelerator by publishing the legal project shortly after taking office, although the minister himself acknowledged this Wednesday before the press that the “process it will be largo& rdquor ;, given that all the affected actors must be consulted. To begin with, the minister has already held meetings with the main representatives economic and social of online gaming, where he has been able to verify first-hand that, although there is an “absolute predisposition to dialogue& rdquor ;, “logically there are different positions & rdquor ;. In these meetings, the minister has indicated that his intention is for the Royal Decree to be approved this yearaccording to some of his interlocutors.
Related news
The draft will foreseeably include the intention of the new head of Consumption that advertising for sports betting and other online games be limited to the dawn, between 1:00 and 5:00 in the morning, as sources from his department recently announced. In fact, the minister has also met with representatives of the media that will be affected by this limitation. In this regard, Garzón acknowledged this Wednesday that there are “actors who, by regulating this activity, are going to stop deposit money, it is logical & rdquor ;. Even so, she stressed that before “the social alarm around the consequences that the game has on public health & rdquor ;, his department is going to “cut off that negative phenomenon”.
A booming hobby
According to data from FEJAR, the Spanish Federation of Rehabilitated Gambling Players, in Spain there are some 400,000 gamers, a good part of them minors. The Ages 2017-2018 macro-survey, from the Ministry of Health, found that they play online on 3.5% of the populationeight points more than in the last wave, while the Federation for Drug Addiction Assistance (FAD) has denounced that bookmakers have become a youth meeting pointgiven that this group hardly appreciates risks in this hobby.
Source: www.elperiodico.com
