Spain Freezes Withdrawals for Six Months Where the Card Does Not Match the Account

On 8 October 2026, Real Decreto 813/2026, de 7 de octubre, amending a series of financial sector decrees, was published, and it came into force twenty days later. The amendment adds a sentence to article 21 of the regulation under Ley 10/2010 stating that operators with a licence to operate in Spain must verify from 28 October 2026 that the holder of the payment method used for deposits and withdrawals is also the holder of the gambling account.

Existing customers will have six months in which to continue making deposits and playing. However, they will not be able to make withdrawals of any winnings they have received: "no podrán retirar los premios que hubieran obtenido".

The Gambling Line Sits Inside a Financial-Sector Omnibus

Paragraph five of article five of the decree rewrites article 21 of the regulation approved by Real Decreto 304/2014 to add gambling, amongst others.

The preamble states that these changes are being introduced "de manera que se eviten los efectos indeseados que la actual regulación ha traído aparejados", in order to avoid the undesirable consequences that the current regulation has entailed. It does not specify what these are.

The Old Text Followed the Money Only Once

Article 21.1 details the documents and procedures that gambling operators must have in place to verify that a customer who is not physically present can be accurately identified. These include any documents which allow for identification in accordance with electronic signature legislation; a copy of a customer’s identity document which has been issued by a public officer; the first payment made by a customer from a bank account in their own name held by an authorised entity domiciled in Spain, the European Union or equivalent third countries; or any other remote procedures which allow for secure identification.

Only the third of the four mentions money, and it reaches the first payment alone. Article 21.2 requires gambling operators offering services via electronic, computerised, telematic and interactive means to also verify that the owner of the payment method used for deposits and withdrawals is the same as the owner of the gambling account: "la comprobación de que el titular del medio de pago usado en depósitos y retiradas es el titular de la cuenta de juego".

Six Months in Which a Player Can Lose but Not Collect

Existing players will have six months from the implementation date of the amendment to ensure they meet the new requirements. During this time, they will be allowed to continue making payments using existing methods and to continue playing the operator’s games, and prizes stay where they are.

Once the six months pass without the obligation being met, operators "deberán resolver el contrato unilateralmente" — must terminate the contract unilaterally — tell the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego, and return the balances, including prizes left unpaid under the freeze. The clock runs out on 28 April 2027.

This means that operators are responsible for obeying the rules. The means to accomplish that, however, leaves their players disadvantaged and with limited recourse after funds on their gambling accounts are frozen, closed, or after they have won prizes that cannot be paid out to them.