The Supreme Court will set a precedent on the scope of action for municipalities in regulating, through urban planning, the establishment of gambling halls, bingo venues, casinos, and other betting establishments. This decision comes after admitting a cassation appeal from the El Prat de Llobregat City Council against a ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) that annulled part of its urban plan for restricting the installation of new betting shops.
The issue reaches the highest court after years of social and political debate surrounding gambling venues, particularly concerning their impact on young people and the risk of addiction. According to 2025 data from the National Drug Plan, 13% of Spanish secondary school students have gambled online and 20.9% in person, despite the legal age requirement.
Several Catalan municipalities, including Barcelona, L'Hospitalet, and El Prat, modified their urban plans to limit new openings after the pandemic. The Catalan Association of Private Gambling (Patrojoc) appealed these measures, and the TSJC ruled in their favor, considering that local administrations exceeded their powers and that gambling regulation falls under regional competence.
The Supreme Court's acceptance of the appeal opens a nationwide debate. The court will need to determine whether local autonomy and municipal urban planning powers allow for the imposition of distances or exclusion zones, or if such restrictions infringe upon regional gambling regulations.
Sources from Patrojoc have expressed surprise at the Supreme Court's admission of the case, believing that the ruling in the Barcelona case was already from the same court and that the appeal might have "little traction." Catalan regulations already impose restrictions, such as a minimum distance of 1,000 meters between authorized venues and a prohibition on installing halls within 100 meters of educational centers.
Catalonia limits the number of authorizations: 126 gambling halls, 75 bingo halls, and four casinos, in addition to the Vila-seca and Salou tourist and recreational center. According to 2025 data, all casino and hall licenses have already been granted, along with 73 bingo authorizations.
The El Prat case presents a paradox, as the municipality has no bingo halls or casinos, only a gambling hall in a shopping center near Cornellà. The employers' association believes that municipal plans "have no impact" but are appealing them to "defend competencies and highlight the sector's demagoguery."
According to a study by the Department of Economy, Catalonia ranks eighth among autonomous communities for gambling halls (4.6% of the total) and last in ratio per inhabitant (2.4 per 100,000 people), far below the Spanish average (8.8).
Between 2015 and 2024, the number of gambling halls, bingo venues, and casinos grew by 13.3% in Catalonia, primarily due to the rise in bingo halls. In Spain, the increase was 43.9%. However, Catalonia stands out for having the highest number of slot machines in bars (33,611), although this figure has recently decreased.
