80% YES!

SPAIN looks like it is edging closer towards regulating its avid gaming operators. Rumours were doing their rounds about “Pokerstars, Bet365, Bwin, Ladbrokes, Sportingbet, Paf, 888, William Hill, Bet-at-home, BetVictor, Betfair, Lottomatica, Snai (decision pending), Titanbet, NetBet, Bongiorno have all applied for a general licence worth an initial €2m. Ten others including Paddy Power, StanJames, Interapuestas, (Interwetten), Unibet, Bet3000, 21kbet, Salsabet, Mybet, Bet770 are said to be still undecided as to whether to purchase a general license.”

In an update, reports have now stated that around 80% of applications are expected to be approved.  “They have been notified that the majority of them have complied with requirements,” a local source said. “They have been told that they are in shape so they can expect license approvals in a matter of weeks.”

“International gaming companies are at an advantage at the moment and, as soon as they are told they have a license, they will be able to simply plug out their dot.com operations and plug in their dot.es operations. Others, that have signed agreements with the likes of Playtech and GTECH G2 could be further behind,” according to a local source.