Spain’s 17 autonomous communities have agreed to establish a collaborative framework on the management and data sharing of their individual gambling self-exclusion networks.
The cooperative structure’s principles were agreed upon at a meeting of Spain’s Gambling Policy Council which was chaired by DGOJ Secretary-General Mikel Arana.
To date, most of Spain’s autonomous communities have individually maintained their player gambling self-exclusion databases, utilising the DGOJ’s RGIAJ registry system.
The RGIAJ system, in operation since 2015, was intended to feed back player self-exclusion data to autonomous community public health networks, providing the DGOJ with little oversight in measuring Spain’s problem gambling disorders.
The new agreement will allow Spain’s Consumer Affairs Ministry to launch two new projects supporting the government’s ongoing reform of its federal gambling laws.
The Consumer Affairs ministry is expected to announce its new Royal Decree on the development of new ‘safer gambling environments’ for retail and online gambling businesses.
Serving as the government’s federal agency on gambling laws, the Consumer Affairs Ministry will also secure further accountability for the granting of subsidies ‘to carry out research activities related to the prevention of gambling disorders’.
The overhaul of the RGIAJ registry has been backed by the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as the Spanish online gambling hubs launch a ‘universal system’ for player self-exclusion which its licensees must comply with.
With this, the DGOJ has continued its focus on harmonising Spain’s fragmented gambling laws by promoting collaboration between autonomous communities.
In 2021, the DGOJ initiated a ‘new technical unit’ with standardisation body UNE to recognise and establish unified gambling standards and harmonised policies across Spain’s diverse communities.