La Primitiva today, Monday 9 November: result, winning combination, and jackpot of 5.7 million

Not every modification of the rules of a lottery draw requires going through Parliament. The answer depends on the rank of the provision to be changed: if it is in a law, a norm with the rank of law will be necessary; if it is a regulatory or operational rule, its modification may correspond to the competent body without processing a law. For a state legal reform, the parliamentary process is as follows.

1. Presentation of the initiative

The Government can present a bill, accompanied by a statement of reasons and background. The Board of the Congress orders its publication, opens the amendment period, and refers it to the competent committee.

A private member's bill can also be promoted: in the Congress, by a parliamentary group or by a deputy with the signature of fourteen others. There are also routes through the Senate, autonomous assemblies, and popular initiative, subject to their requirements and limits.

2. Consideration and amendments

Private members' bills generally require a consideration: the Plenary decides whether to start processing them. Government bills do not go through this initial vote; nor is it repeated in the Congress when the bill has already been considered by the Senate.

The ordinary period to submit amendments is fifteen working days, extendable. Amendments can delete, modify, or add articles. In bills, groups can also request the return of the text to the Government or present an alternative one; these total amendments are debated in the Plenary. Modifications with budgetary effects may require government approval.

3. Working group, committee, and approval by the Congress

A working group, formed within the committee, studies the text and amendments and prepares a report. Then, the committee debates and votes on the articles and approves its report.

When plenary approval is required, groups can maintain in the Plenary amendments rejected in committee. However, the final step through the Plenary is not always mandatory: the committee can approve the text with full legislative competence when the matter is delegable. These phases are regulated in articles 109 to 150 of the Congress Rules.

4. Senate and possible return to the Congress

The approved text is sent to the Senate. If it introduces amendments or agrees on a veto, it returns to the Plenary of the Congress: amendments are accepted by simple majority; the veto can be lifted by absolute majority or, after two months from its imposition, by simple majority.

Therefore, there is no mandatory second reading in the Congress if the Senate does not modify or veto the text. After final approval, sanction and promulgation and publication in the BOE correspond; the application of the reform will depend on its entry into force.

5. Accelerated routes and royal decree-law

Urgency can be agreed upon, which reduces deadlines, or a single reading when the nature or simplicity of the text allows it. The latter concentrates the Congress's decision in one debate and one vote on the whole, without eliminating the Senate's intervention.

Another route is the royal decree-law, subject to its constitutional assumptions and limits. The Congress decides its validation or repeal by a total vote, without amendments. The Senate does not intervene in that decision.

Once validated, the Congress can agree to process it as an urgent bill. Then both chambers participate and can introduce changes, without admitting total return amendments, as explained in STC 32/2026. Validation alone does not turn the decree-law into a parliamentary law.

Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE) and ONCE are the designated operators to market state-wide lotteries, but their powers are exercised under different regimes and subject to public control. They do not have general competence to authorize third-party draws: they organize and operate the games for which they are authorized, while regulation and supervision correspond to the competent authorities.

1. Common framework: reservation of state lotteries

The first additional provision of the Law 13/2011 on gambling regulation establishes that both entities are "the designated operators for the marketing of lottery games regulated in this Law." This reservation should not be confused with exclusivity over any activity called a draw.

• They can market their lotteries through tickets, coupons, and shares with material, computer, telematic, telephone, or interactive support, directly or through their commercial network.
• The reserved lotteries are not subject to the ordinary licensing regime of Title III. Their authorizations are registered in a special section of the General Gambling License Registry only for publicity purposes.
• The law contemplates an exception for non-profit entities with charitable purposes: they can obtain authorization for occasional lotteries, with legally required conditions.

2. Powers of Loterías y Apuestas del Estado

Law 39/2010 assigned SELAE the powers of the former public entity to manage state-owned games, along with their enabling titles, rights, and obligations. It expressly separated this business function from market regulatory functions, which remained with the Administration.

Therefore, SELAE can organize, manage, and market its authorized games and draws, according to the rules of each modality. The fourth transitional provision of Law 13/2011 allows continuing to market the modalities it already exploited, respecting their regulations and authorizations.

A distinction must be made between lotteries and bets: the former benefit from the reservation; for sports and horse bets, the law provided to transform previous authorizations into a general betting license and corresponding individual licenses. SELAE cannot authorize new games outside its authorizations nor regulate its competitors by itself.

3. Powers of ONCE

ONCE is a public law corporation of social character whose games finance its social purposes. Its specific regime derives from the second additional provision of Law 13/2011 and article 7 of Royal Decree 358/1991.

• State authorization: the Council of Ministers authorizes the regime of the coupon draw and other modalities provided in the General Agreement between the Government and ONCE.
• Limited management autonomy: its General Council can make organizational, economic, and commercial decisions within authorized limits. These include issues, sales, prices, prizes, and extraordinary draws; exceeding them requires prior and express authorization.
• Modalities and cooperation: it can operate the coupon, active games, and instant lottery under authorized terms, and arrange common international products subject to verification by the Protectorate or, when appropriate, specific authorization by the Council of Ministers.

The Protectorate Council exercises control powers over its reserved lotteries that Law 13/2011 assigns to state gambling authorities, except those reserved for the Council of Ministers. Also, ONCE's gaming titles cannot be transferred to third parties.

If you refer to the points of sale of Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE), the essential rule is that prizes equal to or greater than 2,000 euros are paid through authorized financial entities, not directly at the administration. Therefore, identifying the winner and having a bank account alone does not authorize the establishment to pay them. A distinction must be made between helping to process the payment and acting as a paying entity.

1. Authorization and limits of the point of sale

The Resolution of November 27, 2001, first section, allows paying smaller prizes through the establishments' terminals, "according to their classification and the authorization granted." For larger prizes, payment through financial entities managing the central lottery accounts is contemplated.

The current operational threshold of 2,000 euros is explained in the SELAE payment information. The establishment must respect its powers and channel the winner to the authorized bank; it cannot replace that procedure by paying in cash or splitting the prize.

2. Identification of the winner and representation

The paying entity must verify the recipient's identity through valid official documentation: DNI or, for foreigners, the corresponding identification document, such as passport or residence card. It must also clarify whether the person appearing is collecting for themselves or representing others.

In shared prizes, beneficiaries and their percentages must be identified. SELAE contemplates representation by power of attorney when participants designate someone to manage the payment. The point of sale should not confuse mere physical possession of the ticket with accreditation of all its owners.

3. Anti-money laundering and traceability

Law 10/2010 and Royal Decree 304/2014 establish the framework for identification, ownership verification, document retention, and examination of suspicious operations. These obligations must be fulfilled by the responsible payment subjects and according to SELAE procedures; they do not automatically turn each establishment into an authorized financial entity.

• The payment must allow tracing the link between ticket, beneficiaries, and payment.
• Due diligence documentation must be kept for ten years by the corresponding obligated subject.
• Indicators of fraud or money laundering must be reported through established channels, without avoiding controls through third parties or divided payments.

The parliamentary resolution of May 2025 called for improving identification documentation sent by banks and training of points of sale. These are control recommendations, not additional authorization to pay larger prizes.

4. Payment method and tax obligations

For these prizes, SELAE foresees bank transfer or nominative check. The 2,000-euro threshold determines the payment channel; it should not be confused with the tax exemption minimum nor presented as a general cash limit.

The thirty-third additional provision of Law 35/2006 regulates the special tax: the first 40,000 euros per ticket or bet are exempt and 20% is withheld only on the excess. In shared prizes, the exemption is proportionally distributed, not multiplied per beneficiary.

Forms 230 and 270 correspond to the withholding and declaration obligor, not to the establishment simply for selling the ticket. For ONCE or other lotteries, their specific rules must be followed.