Spain Sees 20% Rise in Gambling Activity Following Return of Welcome Bonuses : pmp

By Arijit Roul - 6 Aug, 2025 More about the author

The country now has nearly two million active gamblers (1,991,550), representing an increase of 459,266 players from the previous year.

Key Points

In 2024 online gambling in Spain grew by over 20% to almost 2 million of which are active gamblers.
Welcome bonuses which up until April 2024 were a thing of the past, played a key role in bringing in new participants.
The Government is planning to ban welcome bonuses again under new regulations.

Gambling participation in Spain increased by over 20% in 2024, based on the recent Report on Gambling Activity published by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and the 2030 Agenda. There are now almost two million (1,991,550) active online gamblers, with the government connecting the surge with the comeback of welcome bonuses – these promotional offers were not permitted until April 2024.

Demographic Data and Operator Profits

The data shows that 80% of gamblers are male, and 85.7% are aged from 18 to 45 years old. Operators earned more than €8bn ($9.26bn) in profit in the previous year, with €1.45bn coming from state-licensed online gambling. Casino games generated €730.7m, sports betting brought €608.8m, and poker contributed €100m, which was the only group to record a drop in online profit. Welcome bonuses came back following a partial cancellation of Royal Decree 958/2020, when the Spanish Supreme Court said that rules for such promotions should be made by law.

Marketing Spend and New Regulation Plans

As a result, gambling businesses put €526m toward marketing in 2024, splitting it as €261m for promotions, €203m for ads, and €56m for affiliate marketing. Minister Pablo Bustinduy announced a move to re-ban welcome bonuses, to be included in the new Customer Service Law. He reported that what we see is a drive to protect consumers which also includes the news that in 2024 gambling companies were fined over 140 million euros.