Spain Sees Self-Exclusions Rise For Online Gambling

Spain has seen a rise in online gamblers self-excluding according to the latest figures by the Registro General de Interdicciones de Acceso al Juego (RGIAJ). The RGIAJ was set up to assist gamblers wishing to remove themselves from all types of online gambling.

The national regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) formed the self-exclusive department back in 2015 and the rise in self-exclusions rose in 2020 by 12% or 56,329 compared to the previous year.

According to the figures Andalusia which is the most populous area in Spain saw the biggest rise of all those self-excluding by 7.1% compared to the same period last year.

Madrid was second in self-exclusions with a rise of 13.1% and the Balearic Islands third with a rise of 56.9%.

It is thought that the reason for the rise is linked to the COVID-19 pandemic when all of the country was in lockdown in March for several months and saw a steep increase in online gambling.

However when you add all areas of gambling in Spain there was a decline of 57% in revenues for the industry for all of 2020.