The timeframe for Spain's move to legalise online gaming ought to become clearer once the draft law reaches the parliamentary stage.

This is the view of Santiago Asensi, of law firm Asensi Abogados. A draft of future federal gaming regulation was leaked to the press recently and is currently under discussion of the Sectorial Gaming Commission. The next step will be to pass it through the Spanish Congress.

"The lack of any regulation on this matter has produced insecurity at the time of developing these products in Spain by the operators based abroad," he told iNTERGAMINGi. "Fortunately, we are now on the way to obtaining a regulated market and this will make big differences compared to the current situation.

"If our politicians achieve a regulatory framework that is attractive of the operators, it will benefit all players within the industry: the government, regional authorities, users and, of course, operators. In this sense, the tax regime, which is still to be established in the draft, is going to be what makes the difference at the end of the day. The good news is that we have now enough experiences to be taken from other major EU jurisdictions to know what kind of tax system should be adopted in order to build a better regimen. Hopefully this will be the way."  

It is thought the government is seeking to resolve the issue within 12 months - something Asensi believes maybe a little ambitious.

"Perhaps it is a bit optimistic to believe that in one year’s time we will see the first operators granted licences but I want to believe this timetable is true," he said. "In any case, we will have a much better knowledge of the timing once the draft of the law reaches the parliamentary congress."