The Department of Finance of the Autonomous City of Melilla has launched the public consultation phase for its new Casino Gaming Regulation and at the same time has detailed the content of a draft text that will comprehensively update the regulation of land-based gambling in the city. The project reinforces guarantees for players, operators and the public administration across the gambling industry and the wider gambling sector (including casinos, gaming halls, bingo halls and venues with gaming machines and betting).
The Department of Finance of the Autonomous City of Melilla has launched the public consultation phase for its new Casino Gaming Regulation and at the same time released the content of a draft that will comprehensively update the regulation of land-based gambling in the city. The project strengthens guarantees for players, operators and the public administration across the gambling industry and the wider gambling sector, including casinos, gaming halls, bingo halls and venues with gaming machines and betting.
The consultation is carried out under Article 133 of Law 39/2015 and will remain open until 3 December 2025. During this period, citizens, companies and organisations involved in the gambling industry may submit comments and proposals through the Melilla government’s website. The draft introduces a specific regulation for casinos that will finally replace the Spanish national Order of 9 January 1979, which is still in force in Melilla and is now considered “absolutely obsolete” by the local administration.
Melilla’s Statute of Autonomy grants the city powers over casinos, gaming and betting, with the exception of mutual sports betting. Royal Decree 329/1996 subsequently transferred to the Autonomous City the functions of authorisation, inspection, sanctioning and control of gambling activities, as well as the approval of the catalogue of games and the homologation of gaming equipment and materials. While most Spanish regions already have their own specific casino legislation, Melilla continues to be governed by a state-level order from 1979 that no longer reflects the current organisational structure of the city or the evolution of the gambling sector. The Directorate General for Public Revenues therefore considers it necessary and timely to approve a local regulation that provides legal certainty for players and casino licence holders.
The future regulation aims to govern the exploitation of casinos within the territory of Melilla and focuses on requirements for obtaining authorisations for the installation, opening and operation of casinos, the own and complementary activities that may be carried out in casino premises, the conditions that natural and legal persons involved in casino activity must meet, and the rights, obligations and prohibitions applicable to players. It also sets operating rules for gaming rooms and gaming tables. The core objective is to strengthen administrative control and ensure that gambling operators meet strict standards of solvency and transparency so that players and consumers enjoy a safer, more predictable and legally protected gambling environment.
One of the key chapters of the draft concerns financial guarantees. Tables dedicated to house-banked games will receive from the casino’s central cage a minimum float of chips and plaques designed to cover potential player winnings. The amount is calculated according to the authorised minimum stake for each type of game, including Bola, Roulette, American Roulette, Big Six, Dice, Blackjack, Punto y Banca, Poker without discard, Thirty and Forty and other regulated games. These floats will be replenished as many times as necessary during the session, always for the same amount as the original float and preferably in low-value chips and plaques in order to reduce changes between table and cage.
At the beginning of each gaming session, casinos must also hold in their central cage a minimum amount of funds equivalent to the float of the roulette table with the highest minimum stake. At least 50 per cent of this amount must be physically available in cash and the rest may be kept in a bank account that is immediately available for prize payments. If for any reason the casino cannot pay out player winnings, the gaming director must immediately suspend play and draw up debt reports in the presence of the control officials. These records will be sent to the competent Directorate General, which may provisionally suspend the casino’s authorisation. Failure to deposit the amounts owed, combined with an insufficient guarantee, may force the company to request insolvency proceedings and will trigger sanctioning procedures.
The draft sets out a very detailed result-tracking system for each table. Every table offering house-banked games must have an advance register and every circle game table must have a benefit register. All daily results will then be transferred to a revenue control register. These records must be bound, sealed and numbered by the competent Directorate General. Amendments and erasures are not allowed. Any necessary corrections will be made in red ink and signed by the gaming director or by the control officials if present. The regulation allows the administration to authorise mechanised or computerised systems for maintaining these registers.
Counting of chips, plaques and cash at each table must be carried out slowly enough to be followed by all present and always in the presence of at least one table employee, the cage manager and the gaming director or his or her substitute. Control officials may carry out as many checks as they consider necessary. In addition, the gaming director must have at all times up-to-date information available for inspectors on the number of visitors, foreign currency exchanged, drop per table, table revenues and machine takings.
Casinos will be required to keep a copy of the Casino Gaming Regulation and, where applicable, of the venue’s internal rules available to the public. They must also have official complaint forms so that customers can raise objections or claims related to gambling activities. Complaints must be submitted to the department responsible for gambling, which will obtain inspection reports, grant a period for the company to make representations and issue a decision within six months. Failure to provide complaint forms or refusal to hand them over does not prevent customers from submitting complaints through other channels and may result in sanctions. All areas of the casino where gambling takes place or gaming machines are installed must display visible information on responsible gambling behaviour. Game information made available to users must also remind them that minors are strictly prohibited from gambling.
The direction and control of casino games lies primarily with the gaming director, who may be supported by a management committee and one or more assistant directors. These positions are appointed by the casino operator’s board of directors and must be notified to the competent Directorate General. Revocation is mandatory in cases of serious breach of duties. The gaming director must remain on the premises whenever games are being conducted and is responsible for the custody of gaming equipment, player records, documentation and specific gaming accounts. Only the gaming director, assistant directors and management committee members may issue instructions to gaming staff.
The regulation sets clear prohibitions for these management roles. They may not take part in the games offered by the casino, either directly or through third parties, perform croupier duties, grant loans to players or receive percentage-based commissions on gross gambling revenue or game profits, beyond any dividends as shareholders or agreed variable pay schemes. They are also barred from sharing in the distribution of tips, and spouses, parents and children in the first degree of these managers are not allowed to gamble in the casino.
All staff working in gaming rooms, reception and the cage must have sufficient knowledge of how casino games operate and must be hired under the applicable labour legislation. Only staff authorised by the competent Directorate General and holding the corresponding professional licence may work in casinos. This includes the gaming director, assistant directors, reception staff and cashiers. Casino operators must notify the gambling authority of all staff hires and departures. The draft allows casinos to set up croupier schools inside or outside their premises for the training of future staff. Trainees may attend gambling sessions as spectators but may not handle cash or value chips while the gaming room is open to the public.
The regulation lists a wide range of prohibitions for staff. Employees may not lend money to players, transport chips or cash outside of approved procedures, gamble in the casino where they work, consume alcohol or drugs while on duty or enter gaming rooms outside their working hours without authorisation. Croupiers, chip-changers and cashiers may not wear clothing with pockets while performing their functions. Spouses, parents and children of staff who directly handle gaming activities are also prohibited from gambling in the casino.
Regarding tips, the casino operator may choose not to accept them at all, in which case this must be clearly announced at the entrance or reception. If tips are allowed, they must always be voluntary and can never be requested by staff. Any gratuities must be immediately placed in special boxes at tables, reception and the cage and can never be retained personally. Once counted, the total tip pool is split between employees, according to their roles, and a fund for staff costs and customer hospitality. The distribution and any subsequent changes must be agreed between the company and workers’ representatives.
Inspection, supervision and control of compliance with the Casino Gaming Regulation will be the responsibility of the body in charge of gambling policy, with the cooperation of the Gambling Control Unit of the National Police in Melilla. Casino operators must grant inspectors access to all areas of the premises and to any documentation requested. Any breach of the provisions of the Regulation will trigger the sanctioning regime established in applicable gambling legislation. Authorisation files already in progress when the Regulation enters into force must be adapted to its requirements and procedures, while existing licences will maintain their validity and will be subject to the new conditions when renewed.
The competent department is empowered to adopt any rules needed for the implementation of the Regulation, which will come into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Autonomous City of Melilla.
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