Poll: Are you ready or not for Spain?
Bringing forward the delayed deadline to the end of March now means operators, both local and international, will be hard pressed to get their houses in order in the remaining six weeks.
Online gaming licences in Spain will be awarded by 31 March, deputy general director of the Spanish gambling commission Juan Carlos Alfonso Rubio confirmed to eGaming Review last week, but now are gaming firms ready?
The original delay from 1 January until at least the end of June this year – to give the regulator enough time to review and approve licence applications – followed a rushed regulatory process and, timed alongside a general election, meant there was a scramble to prepare for one of Europe’s biggest markets.
The delay was implemented to allow operators additional time to ensure their systems were compliant with technical regulations, following the election of the new Spanish government El Partido Popular in November last year. It came in spite of Rubio meeting every deadline in the run-up to the proposed opening of the market on 1 January, necessitated by a lack of resources to review the 600kg of paperwork submitted.
However, bringing forward the delayed deadline by two months to the end of March now means operators, both local and international, will be hard pressed to get their houses in order in the remaining six weeks. So, this week we’re asking you the simple question: are you ready or not for Spain?
To vote click on the eGR poll on the bottom right hand side of the home page.