Spain: Royal Decree stands but will require its constitutional ruling

The Tribunal for Spain’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Royal Decree on Advertising cannot be suspended, despite ongoing questions related to its enforcement breaching Spain’s constitutional laws.

The ruling responded to an appeal made by Spanish online gambling trade association Jdigital, which argued that the Royal Decree be suspended as it had not received a ‘constitutional review’ to be applied federally across Spain’s 17 autonomous communities.  

The Royal Decree was federally enforced from November 2021 and required all Spanish media to observe a near blanket ban on gambling advertising and marketing across traditional and online platforms. 

Upon its enforcement, Jdigital and Spanish media trade body AMI filed a complaint stating that the Decree summoned by Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs had ‘broken constitutional boundaries’.

The trade bodies argued that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs held no rights to apply an ‘ineffective federal law’ on the grounds that it was a ‘civic protection’ for vulnerable consumers and Spanish youth from gambling harms.

Submitting a litany of constitutional concerns to Spain’s Supreme Court, Jdigital and AMI had urged for the Royal Decree to be definitively suspended until the Ministry of Consumer Affairs had gained constitutional rights to apply its laws federally.

The challenge further argued that the Royal Decree had placed economic burdens on Spanish media without any federal oversight and considerations from industry stakeholders.

Last week, a Tribunal for Spain’s Supreme Court dismissed Jdigital’s appeal, declaring that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs had secured substantial autonomous rights to enforce the Decree.

The Decree’s advertising/marketing restrictions had been reviewed by autonomous governments, who had alerted media stakeholders of inbound changes that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs would oversee. 

The Tribunal cited that Jdigital’s demand for a suspension was considered an ‘incorrect approach, in which the trade body should have treated its appeal as a “broader challenge of the Royal Decree”. 

It recognised that the Royal Decree requires its Constitutional Review, that must be granted by Spain’s Constitutional Court – “In this way, the RD will continue to be applied while we continue to await the ruling of the Constitutional Court on the question of its unconstitutionality.”