It’s been announced Spain are to ease restrictions on gambling advertising which have been in place during the pandemic. The ban was put in place to protect the most vulnerable from problem gambling habits during lockdown. But, there will be new restrictions on the way operators advertise their product.
New Royal Decree
June 10th saw a new Royal Decree 21/2020 revoking the original Royal Decree 11/2020 which enforced stricter guidelines on advertising in the gambling industry.Spain have been hit particularly hard during the novel Corona Virus and the country declared a state of emergency on March 13, and set to be lifted 21 June.The ban was implemented to protect vulnerable gamblers who’s lives changed due to the lockdown giving more opportunities to gamble. Free bets and bonuses were not available to customers with a blanket ban on advertising on social media or direct emailing.Operators were not permitted to mention the ongoing pandemic, either in advertising campaigns or in a way that would encourage customers to gamble on a more frequent basis. All gambling operators TV, radio and internet advertising was completely banned out of the hours of 1am and 5am.
New Restrictions
It seems there will be new restrictions including time frame advertising set to continue after details to reduce the amount of advertising at certain times of the day were announced by government back in February.Gambling operators will also have to adhere to stricter guidelines in protecting its customers. They are not permitted to promote gambling as a form of financial gain with more stringent checks on a player’s financial situation. Operators must also check its players are not on Spain’s self-exclusion database before sending out promotional emails.Social media advertising must be filtered to avoid targeting younger people and a responsible gambling ad to be shown after four standard gambling ads.