WE ANALYZE: Bustinduy, electoral spokesman and Minister of Consumer Affairs, before a Gaming Congress scheduled three days before the elections

The Second International Gaming Congress could be held on November 26 with a political circumstance that did not exist when its organization began: the minister responsible for its celebration, Pablo Bustinduy, is also the campaign spokesman of Frente Amplio for the general elections of November 29. The coincidence places the meeting, initially scheduled only three days before the polls, in a scenario that demands special attention to the separation between institutional activity and electoral activity.

As INFOPLAY advanced, the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling continues to make progress in contracting the necessary services to organize this second edition. The Contracting Committee has already assessed the nine offers submitted and has formulated an award proposal, included in the minutes of October 28.

The file, identified with the number 262910PAS001, initially contemplates November 26 as the date of celebration, although the documentation itself establishes that it can be modified for organizational, institutional or agenda reasons.

So far, a date change has not been officially communicated.

The circumstance that adds a new dimension to the meeting is the appointment of Pablo Bustinduy as campaign spokesman for the Frente Amplio, announced on October 22.

Bustinduy, head of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, to which the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling depends, thus assumed a prominent role in the electoral strategy of the left-wing coalition for the elections of November 29.

The electoral campaign will officially take place between November 13 and 27, according to Royal Decree 806/2026, calling elections.

This means that, if the planned calendar is maintained, the Gaming Congress would coincide with the penultimate day of the campaign.

And here a question arises that transcends the organization of the event: can an institutional meeting promoted by the Ministry itself be exposed to the electoral debate when its head simultaneously plays a leading role in the campaign of a candidacy?

The issue is of special interest if one remembers that Pablo Bustinduy personally inaugurated the First International Gambling Congress, held in Madrid on November 13 and 14, 2025.

That first edition brought together regulators, researchers and industry representatives to address the social impact of gambling, the protection of participants, the prevention of risky behaviour and the challenges of regulation.

The official programme of that edition placed the minister's inaugural speech at the beginning of the conference.

If this scheme is repeated in November 2026, Bustinduy's presence would take place during the final stretch of an electoral campaign in which he carries out express political responsibilities.

There is, for the moment, no confirmation that Bustinduy will intervene in the second edition, nor is there any accredited indication that Congress will be used for electoral purposes.

But the coincidence does raise a question of institutional prudence.

Article 50.2 of the Organic Law on the General Electoral Regime prohibits during the electoral period events organized or financed by the public authorities that contain references to management achievements or use messages and images that coincide with those used by the candidates.

The interpretation of this rule made by the Central Electoral Board in its Instruction 2/2011 contemplates, however, the holding of periodic congresses and professional meetings during an electoral process, provided that their organisation and institutional interventions respect the established limits and do not induce the direction of the vote.

Therefore, the coincidence of dates does not automatically make Congress an electoral act nor does it in itself imply an infringement of the law.

The question is how the meeting would be organized, which authorities would participate and what would be the content of their interventions.

In a sector that is particularly conditioned by regulatory decisions, the Congress is also an important forum to learn about the priorities of the Administration and the approach of its managers on the evolution of gambling in Spain.

Precisely for this reason, its celebration during the campaign forces the separation between institutional messages and any electoral approach to extreme.

The possibility of maintaining November 26 is not the only alternative either. The contractual documentation allows the date to be modified, so the Ministry could choose to hold the Congress after the elections if it considers that the new political calendar advises such a change.

For now, three questions remain unanswered: whether the Congress will finally be held on November 26, whether Pablo Bustinduy will participate in it and what measures would be adopted to guarantee its strictly institutional nature during the electoral campaign.

To these is added another important question for the professionals who plan to attend: when will the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling communicate the final program and the confirmation of the date.

The administrative organization is still ongoing, but the political context is very different from the one that existed when the meeting was designed.

The Gaming Congress was born as a space for institutional, technical and regulatory dialogue. The proximity of the elections and Bustinduy's dual status as minister and electoral spokesman make it especially relevant that it retains that character, without becoming a scenario of partisan confrontation.