Almost half of Spanish players admit that they cannot differentiate between legal and illegal gambling

The study found that 48.2% of Spanish players cannot distinguish between licensed (.es) and unlicensed (.com) gambling operators. This confusion is even greater among those over 60 years of age, reaching 65.7%. Furthermore, 53% of respondents play on both licensed and unlicensed sites, and 17.2% play exclusively on illegal platforms.

Jorge Hinojosa, CEO of Jdigital, expressed concern about the prevalence of illegal gambling in Spain and highlighted the importance of advertising to direct players towards licensed operators.

The study also revealed that 91.9% of players start playing when they are of legal age, whether in person or online. Between 18 and 24 years old, 31.5% start in-person gaming and 15.9% start online gaming. About 75% of online players are between 18 and 50 years old, and 2% started playing before the age of 18.

In terms of responsible gaming, around 70% of players know the main self-limitation tools, such as voluntary spending restriction and account closure. 43.2% of those surveyed have sought information about responsible gambling and, if they needed help, they would go to health professionals (27.2%), security forces (23.7%), associations of rehabilitated players (22. 8%) or consumer associations (20%).

Mikel Arana, general director of Gaming Regulation, highlighted the importance of guaranteeing safe and responsible gaming practices, and noted that the DGOJ is open to proposals from the sector to implement effective measures. Jdigital reaffirmed its commitment to fair and protective regulation for all players, especially the most vulnerable.