Gambling Group Urges Spanish Ministers to Have a Fair Dialogue on Gambling Following Royal Decree Codere Chair Calls For Political Sense

Norman Sorensen, the chairman of Grupo Codere SA, one of the largest gaming companies in Spain, has urged Spanish ministers to maintain fair dialogue and study of Spain’s gambling market.

He stated in his letter to the ministers that Spanish gambling has been assaulted against its incumbents by’ false beliefs’ and’ radical political positions.’

It must be noted that Spain’s new coalition government last month passed its long-awaited Royal Advertising Decree, imposing rigorous federal limits on land-based and online vertical gaming ads. This is the backdrop of Sorensen’s letter.

In his letter, Codere’s Chairman acknowledged the Royal Decree’s conditions, recognising that Spanish ads had been ‘exacerbated by the overexposure of online gambling’.

Sorensen believes, however, that ‘radical positions’ are being taken in respect of broader market dynamics, in which the government does not have the objective evidence to impose more punitive decrees.

He cautioned political leaders not to emulate the punitive strategy of Italian gambling, where the implementation of a blanket advertising ban, alongside an operator ADM transactional registry, has not seen any declining customer engagement with gambling products.