The decree prevents the concentration of gambling venues, regulates the distance from educational centers to gaming halls, and extends the age of protection from six years old.
Spain.- The Parliament of the Canary Islands ratified last Friday, September 6, the decree law of urgent measures for the reduction of temporality, efficient management, and quality in public employment in the Canary Islands, as well as for the protection of children in the field of gambling and betting, approved by the Government Council, proposed by the Minister of Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Nieves Lady Barreto.
Nieves Lady Barreto defended the need for a decree law to adopt measures that are urgent and necessary to solve current problems and expedite improvements in the Public Function "because it is necessary to start the process of transforming the Public Administration and address the necessary changes to adapt it to reality and the needs of the population."
The decree law also adopts a set of "urgent and unavoidable measures" to guarantee the protection of children in the field of gambling and betting activities in the Canary Islands through Decree Law 7/2024, of July 31, approved by the Government Council and published on Friday in BOC.
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On the other hand, the regulations allow for increased speed and correct the situation generated by a judicial ruling that enabled the installation of gaming halls less than 300 meters from educational centers for Infant and Primary Education, once the moratorium in the gaming sector ended on December 31, 2023.
The seventh final provision of this Decree Law modifies Law 8/2010, of July 15, on Games and Betting to regulate the area of influence in which establishments for gaming cannot be located due to the prior existence of an educational center or a permanent center for child care.
The prohibition will be extended to bars, cafeterias, or similar establishments, located in the said area of influence that do not have gaming as their main activity.
For the purposes provided, educational centers and child care centers are considered those that, according to their sectoral legislation, are registered as such in the official registers of the corresponding sectoral Administration and whose potential users are aged between 6 and 17 years, inclusive.
An article on the area of influence between recreational and gaming halls and bingos to avoid concentrations is also added. Specifically, the decree law states that the area of influence in which recreational and gaming halls cannot be located, whether by new installation or by relocation of those authorized, due to the prior existence of another recreational and gaming hall, will be within a radius of action of 200 meters in a straight line, measured on a plan, from each of the access doors of the hall intended to be installed.
