The Parliament of the Canary Islands has definitively and unanimously approved this Wednesday the bill that suspends the opening of new gambling and betting establishments, casinos and bingo halls in the Canary Islands until December 31, 2021, the deadline set by the Chamber to reform the gaming law of the islands.
However, the opposition groups -CC, PP and Cs- have distanced themselves from the retroactivity of the rule, which sets its start on March 6, 2020, in a vote that was held up to three times.
The bill also implies that the Gaming and Betting Commission is expanded to enhance health and educational aspects with the inclusion of representatives of entities that fight against addictions and the creation of a gaming registry that prevents the entry to the premises of people who are prohibited from entering due to addictions.
Ricardo Fernández (Cs) has described as an "error" to set the retroactivity but has valued that the law serves to "control" gambling addiction and protect minors.
Melodie Mendoza (ASG) has pointed out that the law "is a step forward" because gambling addiction is growing in the Canary Islands and especially young people are "bombarded" to consume and also, with "well-known faces" as a claim.
However, she has valued that the regional government is going to do awareness campaigns and warned that the next challenge is the regulation of online gambling.
Manuel Marrero, spokesman for Sí Podemos, stressed that the new law ends the "free bar" that existed in the subsector, as a responsible declaration was enough to open the business, which generated a "proliferation" of these premises throughout the archipelago, 51 last year alone.
He has warned of the "addictions" and "family dramas" associated with gambling and asked for leisure alternatives in view of the generalization of bingo halls in civic centers and neighborhood associations.
Carmen Hernández (NC) has highlighted her "satisfaction" that the Parliament is going in parallel to the "demand of the street" because many betting shops grow "in neighborhoods where poverty is rampant".
The next challenge: online gambling
She also stressed that gambling "is a serious threat to health", so she expects a forthcoming reform of the Canary Islands gaming law and that the "next challenge", online gambling, also linked to video games, will be addressed, as some, such as 'Fortnite', are already asking for real money to improve the quality of the game, "a hidden form of addiction".
Luz Reverón (PP) has said that betting is "the heroin of the 21st century", which is aggravated by online gambling, while Jana González (CC-PNC) has also urged the Executive to "face up" to digital gambling and lead campaigns against addictions.
Matilde Fleitas, of the Socialist Group, has described as "paradoxical" that the groups that in the last Legislature tried to introduce 'esports' in schools now want to "protect" minors and has wondered what interests the opposition has in opposing the retoractivity.
