It is important to emphasize that, like in other occasions, it is not a question of open the market itself, for that we must wait until the Minister of Finance gives his approval (within a maximum period of three months), moment in which the approve will be set or call through a ministerial order and the interested companies will be able to send their applications to the DGOJ.

After several months of rumors about the announced opening of the online gambling market in Spain, finally on September 20, the General Direction of Game Management (DGOJ) published on its website the resolution that promotes the announcement of the procedure of granting of general licenses.

The licensing system in Spain

Spain, unlike other regulated markets, has a "double license" system to operate in the market. Thus, in the first place, operators must have a general license for the exploitation of the online gambling. There are three modes (bets, other games and contests). The general licenses can only be requested in the market openings defined by the DGOJ. So far, this has been done twice:

- End of 2011: Corresponding to the opening of the online gambling market at its origin, whose licenses were granted in June 2012 giving the start signal to the regulated online gambling market in Spain. A total of 53 companies obtained 86 general licenses.

- End of 2014: Coinciding or concurring with the regulation of slot machines and cross betting, it allowed the entry of ten new gaming operators who applied for general licenses (in addition to other six general licenses delivered to operators who already had another general license).

Additionally, to the general licenses, operators must obtain the unique license corresponding to the type of game they want to offer (competitive sports betting, roulette, slot machines, poker, etc.). In contradistinction to general licenses, individual licenses can be requested at any time, this only if the operator previously has the associated general license.

Under this scenario, it is expected that several new gaming operators (especially international actors) will apply for licenses in order to start their operations from the second half of 2018. Based on our experience as MAG (we operate in the Spanish market since 2008), there are numerous reasons why operators should invest in Spain: the market continues growing and is not mature yet; The tax level is acceptable (although there is room for improvement); The attitude of the population towards gambling is generally positive; The requirements demanded by the regulator are clear and can be assumed by operators; Competition and regulatory restrictions in other countries in Europe means that operators must focus on attractive markets to improve business sustainability.