DGOJ announces full list of Spanish licensees
Total of 53 licences awarded " all provisional until definitive certification issued by regulator.
The Spanish General Directorate for the Regulation of Online Gambling (DGOJ) has published the full list of 53 licensed operators following the opening of the country’s egaming market on 5 June.
As expected the majority of major European operators were granted approval when the licences were handed out on 1 June. The likes of William Hill, Sportingbet, Paddy Power, 888, bwin.party and Bet365 all obtaining licences for poker, bingo, casino and sports betting. Betfair, which has been licensed to offer sports betting and casino, is yet to apply for a poker licence but is known to be in the process of considering its network options.
Leading UK bingo operators Tombola, Gamesys and Rank Interactive have all been awarded licenses, however it is unclear whether Rank has been approved to offer bingo with the DGOJ’s official list of licencees only listing the company as being approved for to offer roulette and juegos complementarios, or ‘soft’ or ‘complimentary’ games, such as card games other than blackjack, baccarat and roulette.
A number of Spanish operators have secured approval including Codere, which brought an injunction against Sportingbet’s Miapuesta brand, resulting in a delay in the UK operator’s launch in the regulated market.
It is thought that around three licence applications were unsuccessful, with Groupe Bernard Tapie and two land-based Spanish operators rumoured to have been the ones to miss out, though this is as yet unconfirmed.
Just hours before licences were awarded the DGOJ issued a statement forbidding operators from transferring players’ dot.com data and balances to the newly-licensed dot.es sites, explaining that: “Gambling operators have to provide the funds to players who were holders of a user account linked to a dot.com domain in the process of opening up user records under [the new system].”
Cristina Romero de Alba of law firm Loyra Abogados explained the regulator has been monitoring operator activity ahead of today’s full announcement to ensure no such transfers were made: “Regarding the illegal transfer of data and funds from .com to .es domains, an evaluation will be made on the 15 June. The DGOJ has been following the behaviour of operators and will take action, if required.”
Romero de Alba also explained that “licenses are provisional until definitive certification reports have been issued.” This is expected to take around four months to complete.
The licensed operators in full:
888 Spain
Antena 3 Juegos, SAU
Apuesta Ganador Online, SA
Banegras Unión, SA
Betfair International, PLC
Bingo Soft, SAU
Bluesblock, SA
Carousel Game, SA
Casino Barcelona Interactivo, SA
Casinos Ocio Online, SA
Cirsa Digital, SAU
Codere Online, SAU
Comar Inversiones, SA
Desarrollo Online Juegos Regulados, SA
Digital Distribution Management Ibérica, SA
Ebingo Online España, SA
Electraworks, PLC
Esgaming, SAU
Eurojuego Star, SA
G2 Gaming Spain, SA
Gamesys Spain, PLC
Giga Game Online, SA
Golden Park Games, SA
Hillside España Leisure, SA
Hillside Spain New Media, PLC
Interwetten España, PLC
Juego Online, EAD
Kambi Spain, PLC
Ladbrokes International, PLC
Luckia Games, SA
Money Factory, SA
Ongame Markets Malta, PLC
Pady Power Europe, PLC
Paf-Consulting, ABP
Première Megaplex, SA
Prima Networks Spain, PLC
Pt Entretenimiento Online, EAD
Rank Malta Operations, PLC
Reel Spain, PLC
Sileuta, PLC
Sociedad Estatal LoterÃas, (Selae)
Spread Your Wings, PLC
Suertia Interactiva, SA
Tele Apostuak, SA
Tómbola International, PLC
Trade4win, SA
Unidad Editorial Juegos, SA
Ventura24games, SA
Vive La Suerte, SA
Whg Spain, PLC
Winga Spain, SA
World Premium Gaming, SA
Zitro Online, SAU