Another major European capital has introduced pro-gambling legislation, confirming the continent’s recent trend to regulate rather than prohibit when it comes to gambling issues.

Madrid’s regional government has announced that the Spanish capital will now permit betting via gaming venues, online casinos and telephone exchanges, in a move that is being seen as a benchmark for future nationwide legislation.

However, city officials have also announced that they will oversee the imposition of strict regulations aimed at preventing problem or underage gambling from arising.

Similar regulatory moves have recently been made in the UK and Italy, with operators such as William Hill seeking to set up venues across the continent as a result of the new permissive culture.

A recent study by the European Commission found that gambling now amounts to three per cent of overall European Union GDP, a figure that is set to rise still further thanks to growing interest from offline and online betting companies looking to establish themselves in new markets following recent prohibitive legislation in the US.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 at 10:05 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.