01/01/2012 : Government announcement confirms speculation that Spanish licensing system is not yet up to speed
Immediately prior to the holiday break an announcement in Spain's official state gazette, the BOE, confirmed industry speculation that the licensing system in the newly liberalised market is not yet up to speed.
The announcement, which granted a 6 month extension to online poker providers operating in the country and as yet unlicensed, allows them to continue to do so until June 30 2012, or until the licensing process gets into gear and issues the requisite authority.
The extensively debated and amended Spanish liberalisation bill originally envisaged a licensing and regulating authority, with the first licensees announced by December 20 and ready to operate from January 1st.
It is known that there were a significant number of applications from European gambling companies – some say over 50 – but no announcement had been made by December 20 and that triggered speculation that there were holdups in the implementation of the system.
The BOE extension now appears to have confirmed this view.