Gambling activities may only be carried out by natural or legal persons, public or private entities, with Spanish nationality or from a country belonging to the European Economic Area and who have at least one permanent representative in Spain. Only legal persons in the form of a public limited company whose sole corporate purpose is the organization, marketing and exploitation of games, may participate in the general licensing procedure for the exploitation and commercialization of games that are not occasional, constituting said effect, as gambling or betting operators.
"Article 1. Purpose.
The purpose of this Law is the regulation of gambling activity, in its different modalities, which is developed at the state level in order to guarantee the protection of public order, fight against fraud, prevent addictive behaviors, protect the rights of minors and safeguard the rights of the participants in the games, without prejudice to the provisions of the Statutes of Autonomy.
The Law regulates, in particular, the gambling activity referred to in the previous paragraph when it is carried out through electronic, computer, telematic and interactive channels, in which the face-to-face media must have an accessory character, as well as the games developed by the entities designated by this Law to carry out activities subject to reservation, regardless of their marketing channel.
Article 2. Scope of application.
1. Within the object defined in the previous article, the following gambling activities are included in the scope of this Law when the activity carried out has a state scope:
a) Gambling activities of lotteries, bets and any other, in which amounts of money or economically assessable objects are risked in any way, on future and uncertain results, and that allow their transfer among the participants, regardless of whether it predominates. in them the degree of skill of the players or are exclusively or fundamentally luck, stake or chance.
b) Raffles and contests, in which participation is made through an economic consideration.
c) Occasional games, which differ from the rest of the games provided in the previous sections due to their sporadic nature.
d) Cross-border gambling activities, that is, those carried out by natural or legal persons based outside of Spain who organize or offer gambling activities to residents of Spain.
Also included in the scope of this Law are advertising, promotion and sponsorship activities related to the gaming activities listed in this section.
2. The following are excluded from the scope of application of this Law:
a) Games or competitions of pure leisure, pastime or recreation that constitute social uses and are developed at the state level, provided that these do not produce economically assessable transfers, except for the price for the use of the necessary means for their development and when this does not constitute any economic benefit for the promoter or the operators.
b) Gambling activities carried out through electronic, computer, telematic or interactive means whose scope is not state.
c) Random combinations for advertising or promotional purposes, without prejudice to the provisions of Title VII of this Law.
[...]
Article 13. The operators.
1. The organization and exploitation of the activities object of this Law may be, according to each case, carried out by natural or legal persons, public or private entities, with Spanish nationality or from a country belonging to the European Economic Area and who have at least one permanent representative in Spain.
Only legal persons in the form of a public limited company whose sole corporate purpose is the organization, marketing and exploitation of games, may participate in the general licensing procedure for the exploitation and commercialization of games that are not occasional, constituting said effect, as gambling or betting operators.
The companies that request the exploitation or organization of the games provided for in this Law must prove technical, economic and financial solvency, in the terms established by regulation.
The direct or indirect participation of non-EU capital will be limited by what is established in the current legislation on foreign investment in Spain. [...]" (Gambling Law (13/2011, of May 27), last amended on 31 December 2020, Articles 1, 2 and 13 [google translation])
Gambling Law (13/2011, of May 27), last amended on 31 December 2020, Articles 1, 2 and 13
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