SOS Hospitality, an organization that brings together freelancers and businessmen from the world of hospitality, has shown its surprise and indignation at the Government's authorization for ONCE to launch and market RascaLink. It is a face-to-face online game that is accessed through a QR code. It is highly addictive, awards prizes of up to 100,000 euros and can be purchased at the door of a school or at a public administration office.
For the defense organization of the more than 277,000 hospitality establishments in Spain, there is a comparative grievance between the treatment ONCE receives from the authorities and that given to the world of hospitality. RascaLink is a highly addictive game as stated by various associations such as the Castilian Leonese Federation of Rehabilitated Gambling Players, FECYLJAR, the Aragonese Association of rehabilitated gamblers, AZAJER, or the Catalan Social Addition Center Association, which already warned in 2019 of that the Scratches are the game that engages the most due to its immediacy in the prize.
SOS Hostelería also considers it aberrational that a prize of up to 100,000 euros is offered for a bet of 2 euros, becoming a game that is twice as expensive as a recreational machine and that offers a prize 200 times greater. In addition, SOS Hostelería reminds that RascaLink is not the instant lottery that offers the highest prize.
In the words of Fidel Molina, president of SOS Hostelería, "RascaLinks can be bought anonymously and without any type of control or registration, while you have to pass a control and register to access a salon, which pays more taxes and has prizes much less. We only ask the Government that ONCE compete under the same conditions as the hospitality sector"
Lastly, SOS Hospitality denounces that countless videos of influencers have appeared on the internet promoting RascaLink once its commercialization has begun. "We believe that the Government should investigate who is financing and promoting these videos, as well as whether they comply with the legislation that regulates online gambling advertising," they say from the organization.
