In Spain, the Senate Commission for the Study of Addiction Problems took a concrete step by approving three non-legislative proposals (PNL) directed at the Government, aiming to strengthen prevention, treatment, and research in response to the growth of gambling among minors, both in physical and digital environments.
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Senator Elena Castillo López, who defended the main initiative, was direct in pointing out the underlying problem: the National Addiction Strategy had expired along with its Action Plan, leaving the country in what she herself called a “regulatory limbo.” The absence of an updated framework is not a minor detail when the numbers show that gambling among young people continues to rise.
Data from the National Drug Plan that justify the urgency
The alarm does not arise from perceptions. A recent survey by the National Drug Plan, conducted with more than 35,000 students, offers an accurate picture of the problem.
According to this survey, 20.9% of adolescents participated in in-person gambling during 2025, while 13% accessed online platforms, a particularly sensitive modality due to its easy access through mobile devices.
These percentages, applied to the Spanish adolescent population, represent hundreds of thousands of young people exposed to behaviors that, without early intervention, can lead to addictions with financial, family, and mental health consequences.
The main measure: prevention and rehabilitation for young people aged 14 to 18 in Spain
The proposal with the greatest support was approved with 34 votes in favor and only one abstention, reflecting an unusual consensus in the Spanish upper chamber. The text urges the Executive to strengthen policies for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of problematic gambling, focusing on the age group of 14 to 18 years.
The proposal includes an approach that goes beyond formal restrictions. It calls for the Government to coordinate actions with civil associations, families, and professionals in health, education, social services, and scientific research. The argument is that no isolated measure is effective if there is no support network operating in the different environments where young people develop.
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Immediate rewards and financial education: the Senate’s other two bets
The other two approved initiatives address specific dimensions of the problem. The first, promoted by the Vox Parliamentary Group and defended by Senator Tomás Fernández Ríos, was approved with 20 votes in favor and 15 against. It proposes the development of a study on the risks of games with immediate rewards — the so-called instant gratification mechanisms that replicate the addictive logic of gambling — and their concrete impact on adolescents. It also questions the effectiveness of existing access controls for minors on these platforms.
The third initiative, presented by Senator Rafael Rodríguez Villarino and approved with 33 votes in favor and 2 against, focuses on financial education as a preventive tool. The proposal starts from a simple but often ignored fact: many young people do not understand the real mechanisms of gambling, its probability structure, or the expected long-term losses. Providing them with this information is, in itself, a form of protection.
This initiative also proposes strengthening research on adolescents’ digital exposure, the advertising pressure from betting platforms, and the recruitment mechanisms these use to attract and retain young users. Additionally, it foresees support programs aimed at families, who are often the first to detect signs of problematic behavior.
A partial regulation in a market that does not wait
The parliamentary progress comes at a time when the online gambling industry in Spain continues to grow. Sports betting platforms, digital casinos, and games with integrated microtransactions coexist in an ecosystem where the boundary between entertainment and gambling is, in many cases, deliberately blurred.
The three proposals do not have the force of law by themselves: they are political mandates to the Executive that must be translated into concrete regulations to have a real impact. The challenge for the Government will be to turn these instructions into measures with deadlines, budgets, and evaluation mechanisms. Without that, the Senate will have sent a clear message, but the regulatory limbo denounced by Castillo López will remain open.
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