In an exclusive interview with Jacqueline Mecinas, editor at INFOPLAY, Javier Guzmán Muñoz, Country Manager for Entain in Spain, analyzes the drivers behind the company’s strong growth in the national market, the strategic importance of Ceuta within the group’s operational structure, and the upcoming expansion challenges in a highly regulated environment.
On the occasion of the expansion and upgrade of its facilities in Ceuta, Entain reinforces its commitment to Spain as a priority market. Javier Guzmán Muñoz reviews the role of innovation, technology, local talent, and commitment to responsible gaming as pillars of the company’s recent success.
What specific operational factors in Spain have enabled this double-digit growth in such a mature and regulated market?
First of all, Spain has changed its position within the group to become part of ASE (Americas and Southern Europe). As part of this process, the entire leadership team has been renewed with top-tier talent both from within and outside the sector.
This momentum has allowed us to activate the levers that have driven this success: first, the revitalization of bwin as an iconic brand; second, a clear improvement in product, CRM, segmentation, and personalization of the experience; and third, a much more disciplined operational execution, which has enabled us to better convert traffic, improve retention, and grow efficiently in a market that remains demanding but still dynamic.
How does talent and operations in Ceuta specifically contribute to sustaining this 35% growth?
Ceuta contributes very directly. The workforce already exceeds 50 employees, and the forecast is to surpass 60 this year. However, what matters is not just the size of the team, but the functions concentrated here. All key operational elements are managed from Ceuta: operations, customer service, commercial area, human resources, fraud, CRM, marketing, and anti-money laundering.
This means Ceuta is closely linked to the real drivers of growth. When an operation the size of Entain grows at this pace, doubling market growth, it’s not just about marketing; it’s because the entire commercial and operational machinery works with great precision, and Ceuta is a key part of that architecture.
How is Entain Spain integrating AI, BI, and CRM to improve user experience, and what role will Ceuta play?
The group has already publicly explained that its CRM is based on individual personalization, campaign automation, and machine learning to optimize bonus allocation according to user behavior.
In addition, the focus on Artificial Intelligence is twofold: making the customer experience more relevant and improving customer support. It also enhances internal efficiency by accelerating development and automating low-value processes.
Ceuta will play a very relevant role as the operational hub where these capabilities are implemented. Teams here are in direct contact with customers, the commercial cycle, and compliance. Rather than speaking about innovation in abstract terms, we are talking about applying data and intelligence to concrete decisions in product, CRM, and service—decisions that are made from Ceuta by leveraging the group’s global capabilities.
How do you balance this exceptional growth with compliance standards and responsible gaming?
The key is not to see compliance as a limitation, but as a layer of operational quality. In a market like Spain, sustainable growth requires three things: licensing, control, and traceability. We operate under this logic.
Commercial personalization must coexist with real-time monitoring, anti-money laundering measures, player protection, and clear governance. In fact, the more sophisticated the operation, the more important it is to have advanced detection and intervention systems.
The real threat to responsible gaming comes from illegal gambling, which offers no guarantees and is increasingly operating openly due to the inability of authorities to effectively curb it.
With the momentum of an exceptional 2025 and the expansion of its operational capacity in Spain, the group expects global growth of between 5% and 7% for 2026. Does Spain aim to continue leading the international division, and what new milestones can we expect from its brands in the national market next year?
In a group of Entain’s size, geographical diversity, and level of talent, it is very difficult to speak in terms of permanent leadership or fixed objectives for a single market. There are top-level professionals in all regions, and each one competes and learns from the others.
What is clear is that Spain is consolidating itself as a market from which very valuable insights are being extracted, both commercially and operationally. Recent growth is not seen as an end point, but as validation that the direction is correct.
Looking ahead to next year, the focus will remain on strong execution: continuing to improve product and experience, deepening the intelligent use of data, and maintaining solid and responsible operations. Rather than specific milestones, the goal is to keep building a sustainable, efficient, and replicable model, where Spain continues to contribute learnings and best practices to the group as a whole.
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