Spain’s gambling regulator has opened a competitive grant programme worth €950,620 to fund research into the prevention and effects of gambling-related harm. It’s a clear signal that the country remains committed to evidence-based policy making, even in one of Europe’s largest regulated markets.

The Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) is running the call for proposals on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030. Universities, health institutions, non-profit organisations and research centres can apply, provided they’ve got established expertise in gambling studies.

A Broader Regulatory Picture

This research fund doesn’t exist in isolation. There’s been real momentum building over the past 18 months. Back in March, the DGOJ published its Safe Gambling Programme for 2026 to 2030, and it flagged something specific: behavioural mechanics in loot boxes, social casino products and other hybrid gaming features are at risk of normalising gambling among younger people. The regulator has clearly identified this blurring between gaming and gambling as a priority. They want better understanding of it.

The grant programme invites projects across six thematic lines, though the official announcement keeps those details close to its chest. All funded research needs to start by 1 January 2026 and wrap up by 30 June 2027. That’s an 18-month window, tight but workable.

Madrid has also pushed for gender-sensitive research. Gambling-related harms don’t hit all demographic groups the same way, and prevention approaches might need tailoring accordingly.

Concurrent Advertising Restrictions

This week brought something else. The DGOJ launched a separate public consultation on amendments to Spain’s Gambling Regulation Act, proposing stricter limits on celebrity and influencer endorsements. Under the new framework, gambling ads would only show up when consumers actively search for betting operators online.

These moves come after a messy few years in Spanish gambling regulation. A 2020 Royal Decree banned gambling sponsorship and cut broadcast advertising hard, but several measures, including the influencer ban, got reversed in April 2024 after industry pressure. Now it looks like the regulator is trying to reinstate tighter controls through legislative amendment instead of executive decree.

Research from last summer showed something telling: new online gambling account registrations dropped by more than half after the original 2020 restrictions kicked in. In 2023, just 1.35 million new accounts opened, down 55 percent from the 3.01 million in 2020. We’ll see whether that trend holds up under the more permissive environment introduced in 2024.

What the team thinks

CARL MITCHELL: Spain’s putting serious money where their mouth is, and you have to respect that. Nearly a million euros on harm prevention research shows they’re not just ticking boxes, they’re actually trying to understand what’s happening on the ground with players. That’s the kind of evidence-based approach the UK could learn from.

SHEENA McALLISTER: Absolutely, Carl. What strikes me is how this mirrors the shift we’ve seen in UK regulation toward data-driven policy making. The DGOJ administering this through the Ministry of Social Rights signals that gambling harm isn’t siloed in a regulatory department anymore, it’s a public health priority. That’s meaningful institutional change.

CARL MITCHELL: Right, and for operators, this kind of transparency actually builds trust. When regulators are visibly investing in understanding the market, it legitimizes the whole sector. Players know someone’s looking at the research, not just the revenue figures. That’s good for everyone in the long run.

SHEENA McALLISTER: The competitive grant structure is smart too. Opening it to multiple research proposals ensures they’ll get diverse methodologies and perspectives rather than a single institutional bias. That’s how you build robust evidence that stakeholders can actually rely on when making policy decisions down the road.