EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

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.

MERKUR SLOTS has taken a major step in Spain’s land-based market with the acquisition of 11 gaming halls and the addition of 108 bar locations in the Basque Country. In this interview, J. Fernando Delboy and Carolina Delcourt explain why the deal comes now, how the region fits into the group’s national expansion plan, how integration will be handled, and what operational and technology priorities will shape the roadmap into 2026. We also publish photos of some of the acquired venues.

Passing through Spain in early September, at the very start of the season and after an intense Zitro Experience tour across Latin America, Johnny Ortiz welcomed Jacqueline Mecinas at the company’s Madrid headquarters.

With his trademark passion and energy, the founder of Zitro spoke about the company’s leadership in Latin America, its solid expansion in the United States, and the upcoming major reveal at G2E Las Vegas, ahead of ICE Barcelona 2026, where he promises the industry will witness a true global breakthrough.

Jaime Estalella, Managing Director Operations Spain at NOVOMATIC, is leaving a lasting mark on the Spanish gaming industry. His leadership has been key to positioning NOVOMATIC Spain and ADMIRAL gaming halls as benchmarks for trust, responsible gaming, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

As a two-time jury member of the Responsible Gaming and CSR Awards, Estalella has helped drive emblematic initiatives such as Running After a Dream (Corriendo tras un Sueño), promoting the inclusion of young people with disabilities through sport, and the ADMIRAL Awards for Spanish Sport, now consolidated as a reference in the national scene.

In August 2025, Estalella once again placed responsible gaming in Spain at the center of the conversation with the launch of a new campaign across ADMIRAL arcades to raise awareness among customers and society. This project further strengthens NOVOMATIC Spain’s prestige and recognition among institutions and the market.

During ICE Barcelona, we had the exclusive opportunity to interview Slotegrator, one of the most influential and cutting-edge companies in the online casino software solution industry.

At the next edition of ICE Barcelona 2025, Melilla will be presented as a pole of attraction for the online gaming industry, offering a compendium of innovations and an unrivalled fiscal framework. The Autonomous City is strongly committed to technological innovation and specialised training, seeking to consolidate its position as an ideal place for the expansion of companies in the sector.

This is what Jesús Martínez, the current Director General of Technological Innovation, tells us in an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with our editor Jacqueline Mecinas.

In an exclusive interview with Infoplay, Enrique Reyes, Managing Director of Ceuta Tax Services, reveals the advances and opportunities offered by the autonomous city as a strategic destination for the online gaming sector. After its successful participation in ICE Barcelona 2025, Ceuta is positioned as a benchmark in the sector, thanks to its tax advantages, its business ecosystem and institutional support.

In an exclusive interview with our editor Jacqueline Mecinas, Jason Frost, President of EUROMAT, discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the land-based gaming sector in Europe for 2025. Frost emphasizes the importance of implementing innovative payment solutions, fostering collaboration with regulators, and strengthening the fight against illegal gambling to create a sustainable and responsible industry.

Helen Bryce, Director of Statistics at the Gambling Commission, details exclusively for INFOPLAY how the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain, one of the largest in the world, will enable more in-depth data on gambling behaviour. With an innovative methodology and a sample size that will reach 20,000 participants annually, the research is set to be a key milestone in understanding attitudes towards gambling and its impact on British society.
Separate studies have shown that European countries that implement draconian gambling regulations experience an increase in unregulated gambling.

Barcelona is preparing to host one of the most important events in the global gaming industry. In this interview, we talk to the management of FIRA DE BARCELONA about the challenges and opportunities represented by the arrival of ICE and how Barcelona is positioning itself as a benchmark in the sector.

With more than a century of experience and an exhibition area of almost 400,000 m², Fira de Barcelona is positioned as one of the main players in the trade fair sector in Europe. The capacity to organise more than a hundred events annually, attracting millions of visitors, demonstrates its experience in the management of large-scale events. In addition, the economic contribution is significant, exceeding 4.7 billion euros per year and generating more than 35,000 jobs.

In an exclusive interview with Jacqueline Mecinas, Nick Harding, former president of BACTA, sets out the vision behind the London Casino & Gaming Expo, a new event to be held in London just before ICE Barcelona. Harding criticises the possibility that ICE Barcelona, with its expansive approach, could eclipse face-to-face gaming in favour of online gaming. In contrast, the London Casino & Gaming Expo will focus exclusively on land-based gaming, with the aim of reaffirming London as an international epicentre for gaming exhibitions and offering a differentiated experience for industry professionals.

Exclusive interview with Ataur Rosul Abeer, Senior Sales Manager at Slotegrator. The company, founded in 2012, has become a benchmark in the online gaming industry thanks to its comprehensive platform and wide range of services. In this interview, Abeer reveals the company's growth plans and his vision for the future of the industry.

With Christmas in full swing in the city of Madrid, Jesús Martínez García, General Director of Technological Innovation of the Government of Melilla, landed in Madrid to shed even more light on the new government's absolute willingness to roll out the red carpet for technology and online gaming companies.

It was raining in Madrid and we were talking about the mild climate of Melilla, which even in winter allowed my interviewee to get a tan.

The new government wants and is ready to help, to facilitate, to collaborate with the bureaucratic procedures that any company may have.

They are few, but they are absolutely devoted to facilitate to the maximum the settlement of companies that, welcomed by a propitious fiscal regime, push even more to the beautiful Melilla.

Let's end the year with the exclusive interview to an absolute protagonist in this year 2023.

Jose Gonzalez Fuentes, President of Luckia, has lit up the global gaming scene at the World Casino Awards. Three of its casinos have been acclaimed as the best in the world.

In this conversation, we dive into the secrets behind the success and personal vision that drives Luckia's excellence in Colombia, Spain and Croatia: the personal formula for success of this visionary leader in the gaming industry.

After her participation in the lecture "Ceuta, a place to establish technological projects" during the SBC Summit 2023 held in Barcelona, we were able to speak privately with Kissy Chandiramani, who kindly answered several questions we posed.

 Aristocrat was also at the international gaming show ICE LONDON 2023. Below, an interview with its general manager Christopher Rowe, who showed us his vision of this latest edition of ICE and told us about its most outstanding products.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) recently published a video with an interesting interview with Trevor Croker, CEO of Aristocrat's Technologies, who analyzed the current situation, as well as the position and leadership of the company in such an adverse scenario.

We must emphasize that this is a very close conversation between Bill Miller, executive director of the American Gaming Association, and the director of Aristocrat in the framework of his section entitled Cards on the Table.

 Today we publish the second part of the interview with Andrea Vota, General Director of Jdigital, where he spoke openly about the irregular path taken by the Royal Decree of online gaming advertising, from the first conversations until its recent approval in the European Commission. Also, he made reference to the distinctions between public and private gaming, while describing them as erroneous and insisting on the need to differentiate between legal and illegal gaming. We leave you with his words:

 MGA Games has managed to give its games authentic personality. When we see an online slot we can easily distinguish if it belongs to MGA. Only MGA has been able to create its own style, which we can call ‘Spain brand’.

There is not a day that Joan Sanahuja is not in the news thanks to the unstoppable progression of the MGA Games brand. Triumphing with a unique entertainment offer, today we are dedicated to Arévalo, star of the latest game that MGA has released to the market and that is available on the most important online gaming platforms.

 Ángel Díaz Carbajosa, President of the DC Business Group, shares with our audience his analysis of the situation after the Alarm Decree and its extensions, while giving a message of encouragement and confidence in the future. Both his reasoning and his comprehensive observations are thanks to his extensive experience as an entrepreneur in various sectors of national and international economic activity.

The DC Business Group is made up of more than 30 companies with different lines of business, among which we highlight those related to gaming, leisure, entertainment, hotels and restaurants, such as the Casino de Asturias or Carfama. On the other hand, there is Cafés Oquendo (Roasting and packaging of coffee), Herdicasa (Vending) and Inverpor (Holdings, farms and livestock)

Ángel Díaz Carbajosa also tells us how, from the heart of Asturias, Carfama prepares for new challenges and how despite the difficult situation the sector is experiencing, it prepares to focus on unconditional support for the operator, even if it means sacrificing the margins of gain.

Luckia´s Group President, José González Fuentes, sat down to talk with our editor about the business and social challenges caused by this global crisis, what makes it unique, and where he sees the future. Enjoy this interesting interview with of one of the most relevant CEO in the global industry.

José González Fuentes, President of the multinational LUCKIA, shares with all our readers his radiography of the current moment, comments on the actions of the regional administrations in response to the crisis that the gaming industry is going through due to the closure of establishments and draws the nearest future after the alarm period due to the health crisis.