HAVE you ever observed that there are virtually no bookies in Spain? (In areas the place plenty of British folks stay, you’ll perhaps discover the occasional betting store, however they’re uncommon).
Horse-racing is kind of unknown (there’s the ‘hippodromo’ horse observe in Mijas, however that was extra for the British, and in any case has been shut for years having run afoul of the Madrid-based jockey membership, which controls racing at Spain’s only a few tracks).
There are additionally two days of horse-racing on the seashore in Sanlúcar, however that’s a vacationer novelty.
If you happen to discuss to your Spanish buddies about betting on-line (‘ten euros on Garnacho to take the following throw-in’), they’ll suppose you’ve misplaced the plot.
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Each Spanish city has its state lottery sales-point, (‘Loterías y Apuestas del Estado’) – and that’s the distinction.
Betting, the place it exists in Spain, tends to consist of shopping for a weekly lottery ticket. New statistics recommend that even this type of playing is in decline – however a worrying pattern for the Spanish is the way in which by which underage kids are getting across the guidelines as a way to guess on-line.
When requested, 20% of children within the 14-18 age group say they’ve gambled on this means. Javier Padilla, the Spanish Minister of Well being, has simply printed a authorities report on dependancy. A number of the findings are attention-grabbing.
Within the final yr, 54% of Spaniards (aged 15-64) have gambled in a single method or one other, which is a marked lower from 2020, when the determine was 64%. Ladies gamble lower than males (51.5% in opposition to 56%).
The priority is that younger individuals are disobeying the legislation: 17.7% of youngsters say they’ve positioned bets in particular person, and it’s a rising pattern.
In terms of on-line video games of hazard, younger folks go for video video games, however additionally they guess on sport and even dabble in crypto-currencies.
As for betting in particular person, kids imitate their elders, limiting themselves principally to lotteries and bingo. British folks have lengthy recognised a psychological situation referred to as ‘compulsive playing’. It exists in Spain too, in fact, and bears the identify ‘ludopatía’.
Each cultures are conscious that quick access to the web makes it straightforward for compulsive gamblers to indulge their behavior. That is why the statistics distinguish between ‘face-to-face’ betting and the web selection.
Within the 2020 survey, 64% of Spaniards admitted going to a on line casino, or shopping for a lottery ticket from a human vendor (ie, face-to-face). That quantity is now right down to 53%.
Betting on-line is nearly unknown among the many Spanish inhabitants. Solely 2.7% of all girls say they’ve gambled on this means within the final 12 months, in comparison with 8% of males.
When damaged down by age, the 25 to 34-year-olds are the expansion space in on-line betting, whereas these between 55 and 64 years of age register solely 2.5% (1 in 40) within the final yr.
For Spanish folks, the lottery stays by far the most well-liked type of playing, with greater than 90% collaborating (this determine might be swollen by the “El Gordo” Christmas lottery, by which virtually all people participates). Some 31% of the inhabitants buys scratch playing cards or performs bingo.
Betting on sport is just not frequent: lower than 1 in 10 Spanish folks do it. Maybe a extra related statistic is how a lot cash folks commit to video games of hazard.
Virtually everybody in Spain falls into the bottom bracket (between 6 and 30 euros a yr): however 2% of the inhabitants admits to spending upwards of 300 euros every year.
Do you know?
Large lottery wins in Spain are topic to tax. The Spanish tax authority (the ‘agencia tributaria’) takes a minimize of any lottery or playing win above a specific amount, with the speed of taxation rising, the extra you win. In observe, it often works out at a fifth of your winnings.
And right here’s the worst half – the Spanish taxman doesn’t wait so that you can write him a cheque. The tax is calculated and deducted earlier than you get your winnings! It feels unfair, doesn’t it?
