Bonoloto today: result of Wednesday, August 19, complementary and reimbursement

Changes to the regulation of Bonoloto, as a state-owned game of chance, are usually articulated through an ordinary law and its regulatory development by the Government. The core of the parliamentary process corresponds to the general procedure for approving or modifying a law, to which the adaptation of regulations (for example, royal decrees) that specify technical aspects of the game is then added.

1. What type of initiative is used?

If you want to modify the basic legal framework of Bonoloto (for example, who manages it, the income distribution regime, general prize limits, or player protection principles), it is usual to resort to an ordinary law. That law can reach the Cortes through two routes:

• Government bill: the Council of Ministers approves a text and sends it to the Congress of Deputies. This is the typical form when it comes to adjusting the general framework of state gambling games.
• Private member's bill: it can be presented by parliamentary groups or other subjects with legislative initiative (deputies, Senate, autonomous assemblies, popular initiative). If it succeeds, it follows a very similar itinerary to government bills.

In both cases, these are initiatives with the capacity to create, modify, or repeal laws, unlike non-legislative motions, which only serve to politically urge the Government and do not change the regulation.

2. Processing in the Congress of Deputies

The Congress is the chamber of first reading. In general terms, the processing follows these phases:

• Qualification and consideration: the Board of the Congress admits the text for processing. In the case of private member's bills, the Plenary decides whether to “take into consideration” the initiative (that is, whether or not to debate it in depth).
• Amendments: parliamentary groups can present total amendments (to return the text) or partial amendments (to modify specific articles). Here the major debates about the game model, income distribution, consumer protection, etc., are shaped.
• Committee and Subcommittee: a competent committee (usually related to Finance, gambling, or consumption, depending on the focus) debates the articles, negotiates transactions, and approves a report.
• Debate and voting in Plenary: the Plenary of the Congress debates the committee's report and the live amendments. Finally, the entire text is voted on.

Since it is an ordinary law, a simple majority is sufficient: more votes in favor than against, not counting abstentions. An absolute majority is not required unless the content affects matters expressly reserved for organic law, something uncommon in a mere reorganization of the game.

3. Second reading in the Senate

Once approved in the Congress, the initiative passes to the Senate, which acts as the chamber of second reading:

• It is assigned to a committee, which may open an amendment procedure.
• The Plenary of the Senate can approve specific amendments to the text or a veto (global rejection).

If the Senate introduces amendments, the text returns to the Congress, which decides whether to accept or reject them. In case of a veto, the Congress can override it by absolute majority or, after two months, by simple majority. Again, the key is that the regime is that of the ordinary law.

4. Sanction, promulgation, and publication

Once the Congress has definitively fixed the text:

• The King proceeds to the sanction of the law.
• The Government promulgates it and orders its publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE).
• The law comes into force on the date provided in its final provision (or, failing that, twenty days after its publication).

5. Coordination with regulatory norms

The law usually sets the general framework of Bonoloto (competences, principles, authorizations to the Government) and refers many details to regulatory norms, usually royal decrees or ministerial orders. These regulations:

• Are approved by the Government or the competent ministry, without full parliamentary processing.
• Must respect the content of the law and are issued under a legal authorization.
• Regulate technical aspects: structure of draws, amount of bets and prizes, control systems, management procedures, etc.

Therefore, when Parliament modifies the framework law of Bonoloto, it is usually necessary for the Government, in a later phase and outside the parliamentary procedure, to adapt or replace the regulations to align them with the new legal regulation.

The State Society for Lotteries and State Betting (SELAE) is the public operator to which the legal system exclusively reserves the exploitation of state-wide lotteries, including Bonoloto. Its powers are mainly articulated in Law 13/2011, on gambling regulation (BOE), in Royal Decree-Law 13/2010 (lottery sector reform), and in the development regulations of the game and technical systems (mainly Royal Decrees 1613/2011 and 1614/2011 and Royal Decree 419/1991, amended by Royal Decree 403/2013, BOE-A-2013-6079).

Basic framework of powers

The preamble of Law 13/2011 establishes that, for state-wide lotteries, the “exclusive reservation of lottery gambling activity [...] in favor of the State Society for Lotteries and State Betting and ONCE” is maintained, subjecting SELAE to a “public control regime of its activity, given the large volume of gambling managed and its extensive commercial network.” On that basis:

• SELAE is the holder and operator of state numerical lotteries (such as Bonoloto), responsible for their comprehensive management.
• The Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) and, after Law 3/2013, the CNMC assume supervisory, licensing, and market control functions, especially for non-reserved operators and for technical and competition aspects.

Game design and rules

Law 13/2011 distinguishes between games subject to a general license and those subject to reservation (such as state lotteries). For the latter:

• SELAE designs the essential conditions of the products (bet structure, price, prize categories, draw frequency, etc.).
• This design is embodied in specific regulations and terms of conditions approved by the Ministry of Finance or competent body, usually by ministerial order or resolution, which constitute the basic applicable regulation.
• The DGOJ, under Law 13/2011 and Royal Decree 1614/2011 (BOE-A-2011-17836), controls that the game conditions respect the principles of protection of minors, fraud prevention, and participant security.

Material organization of draws

SELAE has the executive competence to:

• Materially organize each draw (dates, celebration, public dissemination, and network of points of sale).
• Manage the commercial network of administrations and points of sale, heir to the former public entity and initially regulated by Royal Decree 2069/1999 (partially repealed by Law 13/2011).
• Guarantee, through internal procedures, the transparency of number extraction and the presence of notaries or equivalent certification mechanisms.

Control, validation, and technical systems

Control and verification of bets and results are assigned at two levels:

• SELAE operates the Central Games Unit and the technical game system that records bet acceptance, ticket generation, draw closure, and prize calculation.
• Royal Decree 1613/2011 (BOE-A-2011-17835) develops Law 13/2011 “regarding the technical requirements of gambling activities.” Its article 1 defines the “technical game system” and requires:
  • Mechanisms of authentication of participants and bets.
  • Complete and traceable registration of all gambling operations and economic transactions.
  • An internal control system that captures and records operations and allows supervision by the regulatory authority.
• The DGOJ is competent for the approval and certification of technical systems and to monitor their correct functioning.

Economic management and prize distribution

SELAE assumes the comprehensive economic management of the game:

• Collection of bets and custody of funds.
• Calculation and payment of prizes according to the percentages set in the regulation of each game and in norms such as Royal Decree 419/1991 (distribution of collection and prizes), amended by Royal Decree 403/2013.
• Deposit of margins and surpluses in the Treasury or their application to public purposes, according to budget laws (Law 39/2010) and Law 13/2011, which creates the Gambling Activities Tax (art. 48 et seq.).
• Compliance with specific tax regulations on lottery prizes (for example, forms 230 and 136 approved by Order HAP/70/2013, BOE-A-2013-952).

Internal control and external supervision

Finally, SELAE's powers are framed within a supervision system:

• Internal control: SELAE must implement audit systems, risk control, anti-money laundering prevention, and compliance procedures that allow the regulatory authority to access gambling information (traceability required by Royal Decree 1613/2011).
• Administrative supervision:
  • The Ministry of Finance and the DGOJ approve basic regulations, licenses, and technical specifications, and exercise sanctioning power according to Law 13/2011 (infractions and sanctions).
  • The CNMC, following Law 3/2013, assumes functions over the gambling market in competition matters and economic supervision of some aspects regulated in Law 13/2011 itself.

Overall, current legislation configures SELAE as a reserved operator with broad operational and economic powers over lotteries such as Bonoloto, subject, however, to dense technical, economic, and integrity supervision by Finance, the DGOJ, and other state bodies.

In practice, points of sale of State Lotteries and Betting (LAE) — administrations and authorized outlets — can only directly pay Bonoloto prizes considered “minor”. From a certain amount, payment ceases to be made at the point of sale and is handled by SELAE's collaborating financial institutions, with enhanced identification and control obligations.

Payment limit at points of sale

SELAE's operational regulations, reflected in information disseminated by general media, distinguish two types of Bonoloto prizes:

• Prizes under 2,000 euros: considered minor prizes and can be collected “at any official Lottery point of sale” or “at authorized administrations and points of sale” in SELAE's network. This is reflected, for example, in Bonoloto prize collection guides published by El País and the newspaper Demócrata.
• Prizes equal to or greater than 2,000 euros: considered major prizes. In these cases, payment is not made by the point of sale, but “must be collected at the collaborating financial institutions of State Lotteries and Betting,” following SELAE's official procedure.

Therefore, an ordinary point of sale is not authorized to pay Bonoloto prizes at the counter from those 2,000 euros onwards. Its function is limited to verifying the ticket and, if applicable, guiding the customer to the collaborating bank to go to.

Basic requirements of the point of sale for paying minor prizes

To be able to pay Bonoloto prizes within the allowed threshold (less than 2,000 euros), the establishment must:

• Be part of SELAE's official commercial network (authorized administration or outlet).
• Have a terminal connected to SELAE's system, which allows electronic verification of the ticket and registration of prize payment.
• Require the presentation of the original ticket in good condition. Consumer notes and SELAE itself emphasize that a photograph does not replace the original ticket. If the ticket is damaged, the establishment must send it to SELAE for analysis, as institutional campaigns like the Junta de Andalucía's on Christmas lottery remind (Andalusia Consumer note).
• Follow SELAE's internal instructions on payment registration and information custody, within the prize control system audited by the Court of Auditors.

Winner identification and communication to SELAE

For higher amount prizes, which are already collected at collaborating financial institutions, SELAE's official collection conditions require:

• Presenting the winning ticket and a valid identity document (DNI or other accepted), as stated in Bonoloto collection guides (collection explanation).
• Payment is made by bank transfer to the winner's account after ticket verification.

Although formal identification is materialized at the financial institution, SELAE's prize system is subject to anti-money laundering controls. The Resolution of the Joint Commission for Relations with the Court of Auditors (BOE 15/07/2025) urges SELAE, among other things, to:

• Approve a common internal rule for all games regulating participation requirements and prohibitions.
• Ensure that “all convened points of sale attend training courses” on prize procedure and control.
• Reduce the communication time to SEPBLAC of “possible money laundering-related operations.”
• Require that, when collaborating entities do not collect the identification documentation of recipients, immediate notification is made to the Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering.

This does not turn administrations into bank offices, but it does imply that points of sale must act according to SELAE's protocols, collaborating in payment traceability (registration of minor prizes, sending doubtful or damaged tickets, attention to fraud indications, etc.).

Summary applied to high Bonoloto prizes

In summary, for Bonoloto prizes above 2,000 euros:

• The point of sale cannot pay the prize; it only verifies the ticket and guides.
• It must refer the winner to a SELAE collaborating financial institution.
• Collection requires official identification of the winner and bank account crediting.
• Both SELAE and its commercial network and banks are subject to internal prize control and anti-money laundering rules, with mandatory training and obligations to report suspicious operations.

For prizes below the threshold, the authorized point of sale can pay them directly as long as it has a SELAE terminal, checks the original ticket, and records the payment following corporate instructions.