Spain Launches the Stop Juego App to Control Gambling

The Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ) has rolled out Stop Juego, a new mobile app that connects users directly to Spain’s national self-exclusion register. By registering through the app, individuals can impose a countrywide restriction covering all licensed gambling operators.

The measure is part of Spain’s continuing effort to reinforce consumer safeguards and apply stricter, more centralized supervision across the regulated gambling sector.

Automatic Entry into the National Exclusion Register

The app is available on both iOS and Android. After installation, users confirm their identity via Spain’s state-recognized digital identification system. Once authentication is completed, the restriction is applied without delay.

Enrollment through Stop Juego results in automatic inclusion in the General Registry of Gambling Access Bans (RGIAJ). Individuals listed in the registry are barred from accessing licensed online gambling services and from entering land-based venues that require identity verification, including casinos, bingo establishments and gaming arcades.

The restriction is market-wide and applies across all licensed operators.

Standardizing the Self-Exclusion Process

Before the introduction of Stop Juego, exclusion procedures could differ between operators, requiring separate actions depending on where an individual held an account. By consolidating access to the national register within a single application, the DGOJ has established a uniform entry point.

Regulators indicate that the objective is to eliminate procedural inconsistencies and ensure that a request for self-exclusion produces immediate and comprehensive effect.

Compliance Adjustments for License Holders

The launch of the app carries direct implications for licensed gambling companies. The DGOJ will require operators to actively inform customers about Stop Juego as part of their licensing conditions.

At the same time, advertising standards are set to become more restrictive. Future marketing communications must incorporate clearer references to gambling-related health risks, aligning regulatory expectations more closely with public health frameworks addressing addiction.

These steps form part of an ongoing effort to strengthen consumer protection measures while continuing enforcement against unlicensed market activity.

Universal Deposit Limit System Moves into Testing

Stop Juego is one component of a wider reform package approved by Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs at the end of 2025. A central element of that roadmap is the universal deposit limit, which has now entered live testing after an extended review period.

The proposed thresholds are €600 per day, €1,500 per week and €3,000 per month. Unlike traditional account-based limits, these caps apply to the individual across all licensed operators. Reaching the ceiling with one operator prevents additional deposits elsewhere within the regulated market.

The policy is intended to create a consistent and enforceable spending boundary.

State-Authorized AI Monitoring Initiative

The DGOJ has also received authorization to develop an AI-based system designed to detect behavioral patterns associated with gambling harm. The regulator has indicated that the technology will support earlier identification of elevated risk.

Regulators have stated that they are cleared to proceed, yet they have not published detailed information about the system’s structure or how it will connect with operator-side technology. Market participants are looking for clearer guidance on how the government-designed model will interact with the monitoring tools already in use.

If introduced across the regulated sector, the initiative would place Spain among the early adopters in Europe of AI-based supervision at national level.

Continued Regulatory Consolidation

The arrival of Stop Juego, combined with the testing of universal deposit caps and the regulator’s AI project, illustrates a wider recalibration of Spain’s gambling policy.

Authorities are building a system in which key safeguards operate at national level rather than through fragmented operator-by-operator measures. Shared limits, centralized registers and state-developed monitoring tools are becoming core features of supervision. For licensed companies, this shift brings a more structured environment and steadily increasing regulatory demands.

The regulatory push follows recent enforcement action by Spanish authorities, who issued €33.5M in fines and blocked six parent companies as part of a wider crackdown on market violations.