The objective is "to adapt to the real social and economic reality of the Basque Country", as explained by Security Advisor Josu Erkoreka. That is, "to adjust the game offer to the socially acceptable level, to ensure health protection and the prevention of the game that creates problems, and to protect minors and vulnerable groups".

To this end, the minimum obligatory distance between the gambling halls will be 500 metres, when so far an approximate distance of 150 and 600 metres was allowed depending on the type of premises. Nor can there be any gambling house or wagering less than 150 meters from the regulated centers. At present, there is no minimum distance from primary, secondary and vocational schools.

On the other hand, in the Basque Country there will be a maximum of three casinos (one per historical territory and the licence will be granted by competition), a racecourse, fourteen bingos, 60 betting houses (up to a maximum of 75, 25 for each of the three companies that got a license in 2007) and 170 gambling halls (currently there are 209). It is therefore clear that several dozen people will have to close their doors.

It will be mandatory to control the entrances of all gambling halls, as well as those of the hospitality areas a.Los establishments will have a maximum of nine months to adapt to the new situation, as it is mandatory to have computer systems connected to the registration of unauthorized access to the game of the Basque Government.

Finally, the Basque Government will "reinforce cuts" as far as advertising is concerned. Advertising of the game in the media between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. is prohibited; advertisements may not be published with persons or minors of recognised public; names or brands of sports facilities, equipment or competitions may not be used as a publicity claim; nor shall sports teams or sports t-shirts include as a sponsor the name of establishments, companies or operators in the field of the game. In this regard, the Spanish Government has adopted a decree from 31 August to regulate the advertising of gaming companies, which allows only television or radio stations to broadcast ads between 1:00 and 5:00 hours.

IGOR Meltxor: "They've let the virus safety."

In January last year, ARGIA released a report on the rise of betting houses. Among them we collected the words of investigative journalism Igor Meltxor. Then she said: "When talking about the game sector, it complains first of all about the use of public money: "I am not going to criticise the regulations that the administrations do or the measures of moratorium on betting houses that the Government of Navarra has approved, but we must denounce the impunity that has occurred. They have left the virus safe and are now seeing that pathological gambling can become a problem; they would better do good prevention work.”

The importance of the socialization process

The Basque Government has announced the changes on the third anniversary of the creation of the Basque Game Observatory. Jonatan García Rabadam, professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Work of the UPV/EHU, has pointed out that “the first significant aspect is that the game has a clear presence in Basque society, since 70.5% of the population has played or wagered at least once in the last year”. He explains that most respondents (79%) confirm having seen a relative in childhood and/or youth, and recognizes that "lower but significant percentages" (24.7%) started playing before the age of 18, i.e. before the legally established minimum age. “The socialization process plays a decisive role in this situation and, in any case, they are elements that show the high presence and normalization of the game in society”.