Spain’s online GGR hits €454.1m in Q1 2026
Table of contents
- Spain’s online gambling GGR reached €454.1m in the first quarter of 2026.
- Online casino remained the dominant vertical, contributing 54.5% of total revenue.
- Marketing spend climbed 12% year-on-year to €184.7m as competition intensified.
Spain’s online gambling market generated €454.1m in gross gaming revenue (GGR) during the first quarter of 2026, according to the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).
The figure marks a 13.9% rise year-on-year, though it represents a 6.4% decline from the final quarter of 2025.
Player deposits climbed 17.6% year-on-year and 5.6% quarter-on-quarter to €1.59bn, pointing to continued growth in player activity despite the seasonal dip in revenue. The quarter-on-quarter decline echoes a similar pattern seen in early 2025, when GGR also fell from the previous quarter’s total.
Casino leads growth
Online casino remained Spain’s largest vertical, generating €247.7m, equivalent to 54.5% of total GGR. That marked a 21.7% rise year-on-year and a 2.4% increase from the fourth quarter of 2025.
Slots and live roulette led the gains, climbing 22.6% and 23.5% respectively against the same period last year. Casino revenue has now outpaced sports betting for several consecutive quarters, a trend last highlighted when the market posted a Q2 2025 revenue record.
Casino’s expanding share continues a multi-year trend, rising from just over half of total GGR in 2024 to more than 52% across all of 2025.
Betting and poker mixed
Sports betting revenue reached €174.4m, or 38.4% of the market, up 5.1% year-on-year. The vertical fell 17.2% from the fourth quarter, with pre-match betting down 18.2% and in-play wagering up 34.4%. Other bet types rose 90.8% and horse racing betting edged up 0.7%.
Poker revenue increased 10.8% to €28.2m, with tournament and cash games posting gains of 10.8% and 11% respectively. Spain has run shared liquidity arrangements with France and Portugal since January 2018, with five of the six platforms created under that scheme still active.
Bingo dipped 0.4% to €3.6m, continuing its long-term decline as a share of the wider market.
Marketing spend climbs
Operators lifted marketing investment 12% year-on-year to €184.7m. Promotions accounted for the largest share at €91m, followed by advertising at €73.85m, affiliate marketing at €17.4m and sponsorship at €2.6m.
bet365 was recently named Spain’s most downloaded betting app, with Codere, CIRSA and bwin among the other established operators active in the market. Supplier interest also remains strong, with BGaming entering the market in May through a partnership with operator Jokerbet.
Marketing rules in Spain remain among the strictest in Europe. A 2024 Supreme Court ruling partially reinstated welcome bonuses and the use of celebrities in advertising, though the ban on sports sponsorship remains in place.
Regulatory outlook
Online gambling still represents a smaller share of Spain’s overall gambling market than in many European countries. The European Gaming and Betting Association put online penetration at 14.2% in 2023, compared with more than half in over a dozen other markets, including 68.3% in Sweden.
The quarter builds on a strong 2025, when Spain’s online GGR reached €1.7bn for the full year, a 16.99% annual increase. Casino accounted for more than half of that total, a pattern now repeating in early 2026.
The DGOJ is also rolling out a centralised deposit limit system, capping player spending at €600 a day, €1,500 a week and €3,000 a month. Director General Mikel Arana said in December 2025 that an accompanying AI-based risk detection algorithm was on track for completion by March 2026, though the tool has yet to be confirmed as fully operational.
The regulator has also flagged international cooperation against illegal operators as a 2026 priority, citing the cross-border nature of unlicensed gambling.
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