DGOJ: Accountability drives Spain’s new Safe Play programme

(AsiaGameHub) –   Spanish gambling is transitioning to a ‘new system of accountability’ for player protection, established on fresh directives for license holders to spot risks, address gambling threats, and prevent negative outcomes.

This announcement was made by Mikel Arana, Director General of the DGOJ, during the presentation of the “Juego Seguro 2030” (Safe Play) programme for the Spanish gambling sector, which was developed in partnership with the Advisory Council of Responsible Gambling.

The initiative is set to be executed from 2026 through 2030. It represents a key part of the DGOJ’s mission to ‘redefine a new regulatory philosophy’ and improve both player safeguards and gambling settings.

Confronting problem gambling directly

Beginning in 2026, the DGOJ will advance Safe Play initiatives based on a ‘core structure of comprehensive protection’, which the authority is confident will sustain ‘safe environments, and the analysis and diagnosis of harms and threats’.

The programme will not be enacted as a legislative decree. Instead, the DGOJ will utilize the programme to bolster ongoing amendments to the Royal Decrees on Spanish Gambling, initially adopted in 2020 for advertising and subsequently in 2023 for gambling environments.

The administration of the Safe Play programme will focus on six primary objectives:

1. To guarantee a measurable decline in gambling-related harms (currently affecting 1.5% of the adult population as of 2024)

2. To strengthen player protection mechanisms (through preventative tools and the application of algorithmic modules)

3. To refine harm intervention via the earliest possible detection

4. To emphasize the protection of minors and vulnerable players

5. To secure all gambling environments

These principles will underpin the DGOJ’s mandate to obtain new evidence that supports scientific research and data-driven policy formation throughout the gambling industry.

The philosophical and systemic shift pursued by the DGOJ intensifies the regulatory focus on operators, their data, and game design starting in 2026.

Consequently, Spanish licenses will include a “new accountability on player protection” that will be viewed as a systemic responsibility integrated across the full gambling value chain – encompassing “operators, product design, data monitoring and customer interaction”.

Arana stated to stakeholders: “The aim is to advance towards a model where protection is not dependent solely on player behaviour, but is integrated across the entire system, from product design to operator data usage.”

Under this framework, safeguarding is not limited to player behaviour but becomes a function of how gambling services are structured, promoted, and delivered.

As detailed by the DGOJ, the new framework intends to place “vulnerable participants at the centre of protective measures”, reinforcing a system where protection is incorporated into the fundamental design of gambling environments, rather than left to individual discretion.

Evolution in system and philosophy

To facilitate this shift, the DGOJ will implement a new layer of technical oversight across three fundamental pillars.

The DGOJ will widen its examination of game design and product mechanics, analyzing how structural game features impact intensity, expenditure, and the potential for compulsive play.

The authority maintains that “structural environments and systems can influence play”, stressing the necessity to assess how product design contributes to risk.

Regarding licenses, the framework will centralize data processing and behavioural monitoring in its supervision. Operators will be obligated to implement standardized risk-detection systems to recognize harmful patterns in real time.

As stated by the DGOJ, ‘all operators must apply the same parameters to determine which customers exhibit risky behaviours’, a requirement specified as a duty of care for license holders.

Thirdly, the DGOJ will enhance the promotion and integration of safer gambling tools and controlled settings. Player protection mechanisms—such as deposit limits, self-exclusion systems, and behavioural alerts—will be woven more directly into the customer journey, supported by comprehensive oversight of digital environments.

The DGOJ has highlighted the imperative ‘to reduce the risk of the emergence of risky gambling behaviours… or to minimise their negative effects’.

Accordingly, the DGOJ has indicated that Spain’s forthcoming regulatory phase will be anchored in accountability for safe gambling, with operators required to prove how their technologies, data systems, and product designs proactively avert harm, rather than merely reacting to it.

Finalizing the programme’s directives, Arana explained: “Player protection cannot depend solely on the individual, but on the active responsibility of operators, products and environments.

“This new era necessitates measurable accountability, which operators must demonstrate through data regarding how they prevent harm.”