SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 23 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Plenary Session of Parliament has agreed this Thursday to start the processing of the modification of the gambling law of the Canary Islands that proposes to reinforce the protection of minors and addicts before gambling, greater distance and access control.
The Minister of Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Julio Pérez, has defended the draft law to modify Law 8/2010, of July 15, on games and bets, and has called on the formations with representation in the Autonomous Chamber to study the proposal and perfect it during its processing, but without losing sight of the principles that support it: protection of minors, prevention of addiction, ruin and economic damage, and regulation and control of access to the market.
Julio Pérez explained that the objectives of the bill prepared by the Canary Islands Government, and which must now be approved by Parliament, are to reinforce protection measures and distance from places frequented by minors, which goes from 50 to 300 meters; the reinforcement of the access controls to the activity and its exercise, since today it is too easy and the prohibition of advertising in those areas in which the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands has competences, the RTVC and sport.
In addition, it has referred to the regulation of some aspects of this activity, to avoid bad practices, collects a note from the Ministry.
In his speech, he recalled that “today, in Spain, gambling is a legal activity, but restricted, viewed with caution by society and, in some cases, feared, hence the importance of its legal regulation”.
He has also pointed out that it is regulated, with special intensity, by all the modern legal systems of the European and non-European world, and that “it is the only human activity in which a person can turn to the authority to prevent him from developing it and the State is obliged to do so.
In the Canary Islands, as it has listed, there are 299 gaming halls, 30 bingos, 8 casinos, 7,365 gaming machines, called type B, 3,443 catering establishments with type B1 machines and 4,656 type B1 machines in said establishments.
ALMOST 60 MILLION IN TAX REVENUE ON THE ISLANDS
At present, games and bets generate tax revenue of almost 60 million euros for the public coffers of the islands, hence the importance of establishing taxes that allow a collective use of the profits.
The head of Public Administrations, Justice and Security has emphasized that the new regulation basically pursues the safeguarding of minors and other groups in need of special protection, and, for this, among other things, prohibits certain groups from using recreational machines with cash prizes and those of chance, and expands the list of people who are prohibited from participating in the games.
It also prohibits the public entity Radio Televisión Canaria (RTVC) from issuing advertising that promotes gambling –both face-to-face and online–, and advertising on kits, facilities, sponsorship of regional sports betting, provided that the competition, activity or sporting event is municipal, insular, provincial or regional.
Likewise, it suppresses the possibility of installing betting terminals in catering establishments and establishes a minimum distance of 200 meters between gaming establishments and 300 meters between them and educational or child care centers.
With its approval, resolution 10L/PNLP-0065, on the effective regulation of gambling and betting in the Canary Islands against addictions, approved by the Parliament of the Canary Islands in December 2019 and the second transitory provision of Law 2/2020, will be complied with. , of October 14, of suspension of titles enabling new premises and other complementary measures in the field of games and bets.
