Cuponazo ONCE today: result of Friday, September 4th and winning number

For ONCE to organize periodic draws like the Cuponazo, it must comply with a set of specific legal requirements derived both from its status as a public law corporation and from the state gaming regulations. Its regime is unique: the law reserves certain state-level lotteries for it, but subject to very intense administrative control.

1. Basic regulatory framework

The main texts that legally frame ONCE's draws include, among others:

• Law 13/2011, on gaming regulation, and its amendment by Law 23/2022, which sets the general framework for state-level gaming activities, their enabling titles, controls, and sanctioning regime.
• Additional provisions 1 and 2 of Law 13/2011, which reserve state lottery activities to the State Society for Lotteries and Betting and to ONCE, and recognize the uniqueness of the latter as a gaming operator subject to strict public control.
• Royal Decree 358/1991, of March 15, which reorganizes ONCE, and its subsequent amendments, configuring it as a public law corporation of a social nature, with public authorizations in gaming matters to finance its social purposes.
• ONCE Statutes, approved by Order SCB/1240/2019, which develop its nature, purposes, and relationship with the State as a public gaming operator.
• The twentieth additional provision of Law 46/1985 and the General Government–ONCE Agreement 2022‑2031, approved by the Council of Ministers, which set the framework for cooperation and stability of its gaming activities.
• Specific regulations, such as the Resolution of April 4, 2023 approving the new Regulation governing the ONCE Coupon, within which products like the Cuponazo are framed.

2. Lottery reservation and authorization

Law 13/2011 establishes that state-level lotteries are exclusively reserved for the State Society for Lotteries and Betting and ONCE. This reservation is not a “blank check”: each modality and product (Daily Coupon, Weekend, Cuponazo, etc.) must be:

• Provided for in the enabling regulations (Laws, Royal Decrees, General Agreement).
• Regulated by an internal regulation approved by ONCE's General Council.
• Verified and authorized by the Protectorate Council, the body through which the State exercises protectorate and control over ONCE.

The Resolution of April 4, 2023 itself emphasizes that ONCE must notify the Protectorate Council in advance of the conditions of each modality and its modifications, so that the Council can verify their compliance with legislation and the state concession.

3. Administrative control and participant protection

Law 13/2011 and specific regulations impose obligations on ONCE focused on:

• Game integrity: clear rules, prior setting of prices, prizes, series, and probabilities, and systems that guarantee randomness and prevent fraud.
• Protection of minors and vulnerable persons: prohibition of participation by minors and persons restricted from gaming access, as well as control mechanisms and warnings about responsible gaming.
• Addiction prevention: application of responsible gaming policies and compliance with specific regulations on gaming commercial communications (advertising, schedules, content, etc.).
• Transparency towards consumers: publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the Coupon regulations (including Cuponazo) as a guarantee for players, indicating the draw structure, prizes, refunds, and payment procedures.

4. Social purpose and destination of profits

An essential requirement is that ONCE does not have private profit motives. Both Royal Decree 358/1991 and its Statutes and Law 5/2011 on Social Economy define it as a public law corporation of a social nature, whose gaming profits:

• Are allocated to financing social services for blind or severely visually impaired persons.
• Are managed under strict public control by the Protectorate Council, which supervises their sustainability and proper allocation to social purposes.

This link between lotteries and social purposes is one of the foundations that justify the reservation and legal uniqueness of ONCE as a state lottery operator.

5. Tax and sanctioning aspects

ONCE is subject to the specific tax regime for gaming and to the infringement and sanctioning regime of Law 13/2011, as well as to other general regulations (money laundering, terrorism financing, data protection, etc.). A significant breach of the authorized conditions for products like Cuponazo could lead to:

• Fines and administrative sanctions.
• Review of authorizations or agreements with the State.
• Additional liabilities if consumers or economic public order are affected.

In summary, ONCE can organize draws like Cuponazo because the law reserves state-level lottery to it, but always provided it respects a framework of formal authorizations, public control, detailed technical rules, and strict orientation of profits to social purposes.

According to Spanish legislation, especially Royal Decree 358/1991, of March 15, which reorganizes the National Organization of Spanish Blind People, and its subsequent amendments (notably Royal Decrees 1200/1999, 1359/2005, 394/2011, and 1152/2015), ONCE is a public law corporation of a social nature, with its own legal personality and full capacity to act and self-organize. Its functions and competencies are configured to serve general interest purposes related to blind and severely visually impaired persons.

Legal nature and general interest purposes

ONCE is defined as a private associative base entity, composed of its members, who are blind or severely visually impaired persons who apply for membership and meet statutory conditions. It operates throughout Spain and exercises delegated functions of public administrations, under the State's protectorate.

The regulations emphasize that its social, economic, and business activity is governed by the principles of solidarity, absence of profit motive, and general interest. Its mission is oriented towards personal autonomy, full social inclusion, equal opportunities, non-discrimination, and effective enjoyment of citizenship rights of its members, in line with Spanish disability legislation and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Social functions and competencies

The Royal Decree establishes that ONCE must articulate, through its statutes, a set of services, benefits, and activities in specific areas, highlighting:

• Educational inclusion: specific supports to guarantee access and permanence in the education system on equal terms.
• Training and labor insertion: vocational training programs and employment access measures, including its status as a specialized social agent in sheltered employment and special employment centers.
• Comprehensive rehabilitation: actions to develop skills and functional capacities that allow autonomy in daily life.
• Personal autonomy: services and resources that facilitate independent living and self-decision-making.
• Universal accessibility and design for all: promotion of technical and technological measures that make environments, products, and services accessible.
• R&D&i and tiflotechnology: promotion of research, development, and innovation in technologies specific to visual disability.
• Accessible bibliographic funds and their distribution, to promote education, employment, and access to culture.
• Cultural and sports promotion: programs that facilitate participation in leisure, culture, and sports activities.
• Information and awareness: improving social perception of ONCE and blindness, as well as information to members and society.

Additionally, ONCE can extend its action, mainly through Fundación ONCE, to social and labor inclusion policies for persons with disabilities in general, not only its members.

Competencies in gaming and financing

An essential competency attributed to ONCE by the regulations is its status as a state-level gaming operator. The organization has:

• The exclusive exploitation of the state concession for the pro-blind coupon.
• The marketing of other authorized games (instant lottery, active gaming, products like Daily Coupon, Cuponazo, Triplex, Super Once, etc.), regulated by resolutions published in the BOE that approve regulations and conditions for each product.

Legislation establishes that the profits from these gaming modalities, along with other resources (own assets, donations, subsidies, service income), constitute the financing base for its social purposes. The link between authorized gaming and social purpose is explicit: public authorizations in gaming matters are granted to finance its general interest purposes.

Relationship with the General State Administration

ONCE's activity is subject to the State's protectorate and public control, mainly exercised through the Protectorate Council. This body supervises:

• Compliance with social purposes and proper application of obtained resources.
• The adequacy of its gaming activity to the legal system and current authorizations.
• Certain plans, agreements, and modifications of the coupon regime and other games that require Government authorization.

ONCE's service plans and programs must coordinate with the social policies of the competent ministry and other public administrations. Likewise, the organization collaborates with public employment services and autonomous communities, seeking recognition of its unique status as a social action and sheltered employment entity.

Overall, the legislation configures ONCE as a unique public-private instrument: a non-profit public law corporation, essentially financed through authorized state-level games, whose mission and competencies focus on guaranteeing inclusion, autonomy, and rights of blind and severely visually impaired persons, under the State's tutelage and control.

In Spain, the regulation of games of chance and lotteries is structured around a state block that covers state-level games (especially online and lotteries) and a very broad regional regulation for in-person gaming (casinos, bingo halls, gaming salons, machines, in-person betting, etc.). On top of this general state framework, abundant regulatory norms are superimposed.

1. Basic state regulation: Law 13/2011, on gaming regulation

The central piece is Law 13/2011, of May 27, on gaming regulation (text in BOE), amended, among others, by Law 23/2022, of November 2 (link).

This law:

• Regulates state-level gaming activities, especially those carried out by electronic, computer, telematic, and interactive means (online gaming).
• Defines the system of enabling titles (general and specific licenses) for private operators.
• Establishes the control, infractions, and sanctions regime and obligations of responsible gaming, fraud prevention, and anti-money laundering.
• Respects the competencies of autonomous communities over gaming developed exclusively within their territory, acting as a reference norm for state games and online gaming, without emptying regional gaming laws.

Competency-wise, Law 13/2011 sets full state regulation over state-level games and, at the same time, a coordination framework with autonomous communities.

2. Regulatory development of state and online gaming

Law 13/2011 is developed through several royal decrees and orders:

• Royal Decree 1613/2011, of November 14, on technical requirements for gaming activities (BOE): regulates technical systems for online gaming (platforms, random number generators, internal control systems, traceability, contingency plans, participant identification, etc.).
• Royal Decree 1614/2011, of November 14, on licenses, authorizations, and gaming registers (BOE): develops the entire administrative regime for granting enabling titles and the General Gaming License Register.
• Royal Decree 958/2020, of November 3, on commercial communications of gaming activities (BOE), partially replaced and supplemented by Royal Decree 176/2023, of March 14, developing safer gaming environments (BOE): regulate advertising and promotion of gaming, protection of minors, and configuration of safer gaming environments (limits, self-exclusion, player information, etc.).
• Various ministerial orders of November 8, 2011 (Order EHA/3079/2011 and others) approve the basic regulation of specific types of state games (counterparty sports betting, horse racing, online bingo, roulette, Blackjack, online poker, gaming machines, “complementary games”, contests, etc.), always "in accordance" with Law 13/2011.

3. State lotteries and ONLAE/SELAE and ONCE

For state-level lotteries operated by the State Society for Lotteries and Betting (SELAE), there is a historical framework of royal decrees and resolutions regulating:

• State draws and sports betting (Royal Decree 419/1991, of March 27; Royal Decree 716/2005, of June 20; Royal Decree 773/1989, of June 23, and their development and amendment regulations).
• Aspects such as distribution of revenue and prizes, ticket validation, prediction contests like Lotería Primitiva, “El Gordo de la Primitiva” or “El Quinigol”.

ONCE, as a unique operator authorized by the State, is governed by Law 13/2011 and its own product regulations for instant lottery, coupon, and active gaming, which are regularly published through resolutions of the Secretary of State for Social Rights (for example, the Resolution of June 14, 2024 on ONCE's Instant Lottery tickets).

4. Historical regulations and sanctioning regime

Historically, decriminalization and the first general regulation occurred with the Royal Decree-law 16/1977, of February 25, on games of chance, betting, and wagers, and its complementary regulations (Royal Decree 444/1977, Order of August 6, 1977, etc.), now very partially in force after Law 13/2011. Royal Decree-law 2/1987 focused on sanctioning powers in games of chance.

5. Competencies of autonomous communities

Alongside this state block, each autonomous community has approved its own gaming law and regulations (casinos, bingo halls, recreational machines, salons, in-person betting), exercising their competencies over shows and gaming when the activity takes place entirely within their territory. These regional norms coexist with Law 13/2011, which applies to state-level games and online gaming with state licenses.