We know that our initiative has generated different views. Many people have come to support us, and in the concentration that we held in front of the betting house we met more than a hundred people. There are issues that have raised doubts. Also those who have criticised our initiative, showing an opposite attitude and pointing out the contradictions of the initiative. All opinions, questions, doubts and criticisms are welcome, because arguments for and against serve to deepen the subject. That is what we will try in the following lines.

Ten years have passed since Reta opened its first site in Bilbao. Since then, the company has opened another 56 premises throughout the State, and in addition to these premises, it has installed 2500 terminals (wagering machines) in bars and restaurants. In the past, the local basketball club bought the place it managed as a bar and the company will be in charge of opening a similar venue in our place. We are talking about large entrepreneurs with extensive experience in the betting market.

It is one of the markets that has grown the most in the Spanish State since it has been called "economic crisis". The Basque Government estimates that in the Basque Autonomous Community €340 million was spent on betting in 2017, 10% more than in 2016 and 113% more than in 2012. These companies made profits of 46 million euros, 13% more than in 2016, and 80% more than in 2012. In seven years the number of bets placed in the Basque Autonomous Community has multiplied, which in 2017 was 36 million. We could continue to provide data, but a few days may deny the rise of the betting market and the size of the profits that the big companies behind them are getting. The term says that wager is not an income, but a few are accumulating large incomes in recent times.

Bankinter Bank, for example, makes recommendations of this type with regard to the betting market on its website: "Sports betting is a secure market when making investments. The laws are good and it is very possible to make a profit, with the possibility of doubling them in a short time."

It is in the shadow of big profits that they lose money in wagering, because the fact that these companies have earned so much money means that people have lost so much. On a day when precariousness is the bread of every day, there are many citizens who choose to wager for extra money. It is no coincidence that betting houses are located in working-class neighborhoods. Associations against pathological gambling have often demanded that the openings of similar premises be regulated in neighborhoods that may be the groups most sensitive to the subject (economic, age...), but not so. As betting markets grow, the negative consequences of this are increasing.

Arguments such as "personal freedom" or "everyone is free to do whatever they want" are common in similar debates. But today these powerful companies are developing well-designed marketing strategies to entice citizens to wagering. In advertising, a great deal is invested, especially when the world of football is being used to invade the illusion of earning money with betting on citizenship. Through the ads we are being invited to wager on athletes referent to many people. All teams that militate in the Men’s National Football League (except the Real Sociedad) are advertising betting houses. Betting houses account for 20% of the ads on the return of football matches broadcast on TV. The sport that follows the most in the world is being a good opportunity for people to influence many betting houses.

In the Basque Country the wager has a great tradition, but the fact that wagering has always been done is not good in itself. Not all forms of gambling are the same. Big companies have got into this world that will always win. Speed is one of the main features of the current form of wager: We can do the other before a wager ends, and in many cases when losing a wager we will try to recover the lost money immediately, putting it into a whirlwind that has no end. If we win one, why don't we win the next one? Betting houses use addictive techniques, while they say they encourage “responsible play”. But when have the capitalists repaired the misery they generate? When did you care about people's health? When have you cared about people's lives?

We are aware that this debate has many facets, is complex and can generate many contradictions within it. We are aware that in our people there are other problems, such as alcohol, that may be related to the issue.

The opening of a betting house in the village is immediate, and among the citizens we have started to work on this issue, as we have felt that we are facing a new phenomenon that is experiencing a spectacular boom in a few years, and we are concerned about the consequences it may have. We do not work on all the problems in the people, but we come to work some and we are reassured by what we do.

Those who have accused us of working on wagering and neglecting others are free to maintain other problems that are not working in the people. They will accompany us to our extent.

We live with contradictions, we have society and we are part of it. If it were because of the contradictions generated by each initiative we organize, we would surely do nothing. But five years ago, when we created with Elkar, we decided to work on the problems that concern us with all of our contradictions. And our intention is to continue to push forward initiatives against the betting house, among other things.