Hernandez Riera confirmed as Spanish regulator

Carlos Hernandez Riera has been appointed deputy general director for the Spanish gambling authority, replacing Juan Carlos Alfonso Rubio who resigned from the role last month, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance has confirmed.

As exclusively revealed by eGaming Review on 20 March Hernandez Riera was on a shortlist of two state attorneys being considered for the position alongside Carlos Montes, who was thought to have met with Alfonso Rubio to discuss the role. However, Hernandez Riera had been widely tipped as the preferred choice and took up the position yesterday.

He is the third high-profile appointment to the Spanish regulatory body this year, after Enrique Alejo joined as general director in January, and Jaime Lorenzo was announced as deputy general director of gaming management, responsible for technical compliance, replacing Miguel Ordozgoiti who left alongside Alfonso Rubio.

Alfonso Rubio told eGaming Review that Spanish licences would be awarded by the end of March, three months ahead of the six-month delay imposed by the newly-elected El Partido Popular government in last December last year, and it was announced that 80% of operators had received pre-approval notifications from the regulator last month ““ something which has now been denied by Alejo.

Cristina Romero de Alba of Loyra Abogados told eGR that it was now unlikely that approval will be given by mid-June, which would allow operators to launch by the end of the month, suggesting that the revised June 30 deadline for awarding licences may not be met: “That date [15 June] was set because the new infringements and sanctions regime that will replace the current one enters into force on the first of July and the administration told the applicants that they would give a 15 day notice prior to the granting of the licenses.

“However, there’s nothing preventing the authorities from granting the licenses later in time and it does make sense, in fact, taking into account that they are reviewing the files in more detail,” Romero de Alba explained.

However, Alejo announced last week that he is aiming to meet the government’s deadline for the awarding of licences.