A new Jdigital-EY study outlines how Spain’s unlicensed market works and how players shift between .es brands and offshore sites. It also highlights awareness gaps around what “licensed” actually means. The report points to steady growth in illegal online gambling Spain and its impact on channelisation.

  • The study estimates EUR 231m in unlicensed online gambling for 2024 in terms of GGR, around 16% of the regulated market. About 23.4% of respondents had used non-regulated environments, while 9.3% admitted playing on operators without a Spanish licence. The authors suggest the true size of illegal online gambling Spain is likely higher.

  • Nearly half of players who say they only use licensed sites still play on .com or .bet domains. One in four cannot distinguish between licensed and unlicensed brands. Around 15% did not know they lose Spanish safeguards on illegal sites.

  • Younger adults show the highest exposure to unlicensed brands. In the 18–24 group, 16.1% were inferred to have used illegal operators in the last year. Awareness of risks improves as age increases.

  • Higher-spending players are more active on offshore sites. Leakage rises among those staking above EUR 600 a month. The report suggests up to 32.4% of potential regulated value may be shifting to unlicensed operators.

  • Discovery of illegal brands is driven by web searches and social media. Telegram accounts for 12% of discovery among inferred illegal users versus 4% for regulated players. VPNs, WhatsApp and VIP “hosts” also facilitate offshore play.

  • Commercial incentives attract players to unlicensed operators. Bonuses, loyalty rewards and promos make up nearly 30% of reasons given for choosing brands. Tighter bonus limits in Spain widen the gap between regulated and illegal offers.

  • Europe shows a similar pattern of rising unlicensed GGR. Illegal online GGR in the EU-27 accounts for about EUR 80.6bn of EUR 114.3bn total in 2024 (see graph below). As a result Spain accounts for about 0.3% of illegal online GGR across the EU-27 in 2024. 

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