Spain: Local advocacy group seeks support to “end the gambling monopoly”

Spain’s Organization for the Promotion of Disabled People (OID) has requested all political parties to support them in urging the government to change current Gambling Laws, in order to end the monopolies which dominate the industry.

The current Gambling Law only allows the State and the ONCE to organise lotteries. However, other commercial operators can in theory be designated by the state as long as these lotteries are directed towards nonprofit and charity causes.

“However, the administration has refused systematically to let other operators in the market, refusing to issue the appropriate titles.” said the OID spokesman. “In the case of our organization, we have been asking for the relevant authorisation from the very start, with the latest request being held up in court”.

OID’s president, Dionisio González Otero, believes that “the law reaffirms the State’s monopoly and goes against the criteria used by the European Union’s Court of Justice, as well as several Spanish judges”. For these reasons, the OID concluded, the current gaming law should be considered unlawful and promptly reformed.

Source: La Voz de Talavera

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