Gambling halls in Madrid: bouncers are a must

The Spanish government has in the past two years not only strictly regulated online gambling but also the land-based gambling sector. As it was announced a few days ago, the autonomous community of Madrid has adopted further gambling restrictions. Among these is the fact that it will soon be obligatory to have a “bouncer” at the door of every gambling hall. But do these newly adopted measures make sense?

Last October we had already reported about an anticipated ban on credit cards for gambling in Mallorca and other Balearic islands. Now the government of the Spanish capital of Madrid has adopted new guidelines and provisions. The new guidelines and provisions aim to improve the security of the players and to protect them in the best possible ways from the dangers of gambling. Besides this, it should be ensured that no minor has access to gambling. The new laws were published a few days ago in the gazette, the Boletin Oficial de la Comunidad de Madrid.

In the future the entrance ways to betting offices and gambling halls must be monitored

Among other things, the new regulations stipulate that the entrances to betting offices and gambling halls should be strictly monitored. In fact, the regulations oblige the managers of the gambling halls of Madrid to provide a bouncer in front of their premises. This would ensure that minors are afraid and do not even try to gain unlawful entrance to the gambling hall.

Besides this, a further advantage of this new “entrance control” could be that the number of holdups on gambling halls could possibly decrease. Since there will be a bodyguard to welcome the guests in front of every gambling hall, possible criminals could be deterred. In January of this year we had reported about a robber who had raided the same gambling hall in Mallorca three times within a short while.

Further protection-measures have been adopted

As the government in Madrid has stipulated, there must be a minimum distance of 300 metres between the individual gambling halls and betting offices. Besides this, no gambling hall or betting office may be within a distance of 100 metres to an educational institution (e.g. a school). Besides this, no ATM may be set up in the gambling halls.

Conclusion

In the future one must get used to seeing a bouncer in front of every betting office and gambling hall. The only duty of the bodyguard will be to monitor the age of the guests entering the premises. Besides this in Madrid there will in the future be prescribed minimum distances which must be held between gambling halls and educational institutions. Of course the “bodyguard rule” will create an extra financial cost in human resources, especially for smaller casinos. This could also eventually lead some gambling halls or betting offices in Madrid to close their doors.

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