SPAIN: Mikel Arana, new head of the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling
In Spain, the Council of Ministers approved yesterday- in response to the proposal of the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzón - the appointment of Mikel Arana (Ordizia, 1973) as head of the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling. Thus, the new director takes over one of the two key areas in the structure, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
Mikel Arana has a Law Degree from the University of the Basque Country, has been an interim official and auditor of the Economic Control Office of the Basque Government. In addition, he has a master's degree in Human Rights, Democracy and Globalization from the Open University of Catalonia and an MBA from the Carlos III University in Madrid.
His experience in public service is completed with seven years as Director of Services of the Department of Housing and Social Affairs of the Autonomous Administration of the Basque Country and a legislature (2009-2012) as spokesman in the Basque Parliament.
In the last year, Arana has combined his work as an auditor with teaching at the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU), as an associate professor at the Faculty of Labor Relations and Social Work. In an earlier stage, he taught at the Department of Business Law of the same university, in this case at the Faculty of Economics and Business.
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The new general director of Gambling Regulation assumes the functions related to the proposal and analysis of the impact of the regulations related to gaming activity at the state level.
Thus, Arana has as a challenge the development of Law 13/2011 on Gambling Regulation and, immediately, the approval of the Royal Decree that regulates articles 7 and 8 on advertising, sponsorship and promotion of gaming activities.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs published last February the Draft Royal Decree on Commercial Communications for gambling activities, the text of which will continue its ordinary procedure once the current state of alarm ends.
The first phase has been coordinated by his predecessor, Juan Espinosa, who leaves office as head of the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling (2016-2020) on his own initiative. The Minister of Consumer Affairs thanked the outgoing director for the work done in recent months and wished him luck and success in his new stage.
