The Primitiva today: result of Monday, October 5, complementary, reimbursement, and Joker

To organize state-level lottery draws similar to La Primitiva in Spain, it is not enough to “meet some requirements”: the legal system itself makes this type of lottery, in practice, reserved for specific public operators and subject to very strict regulation.

1. Basic legal framework

The regime for these games is mainly structured around:

• Law 13/2011, on gambling regulation (BOE), amended by Law 23/2022 (BOE).
• Royal Decree 1614/2011, on gambling licenses, authorizations, and registers (BOE).
• Royal Decree 1613/2011, on technical requirements for gambling activities (BOE).
• Royal Decree 176/2023, on safer gambling environments (BOE), which strengthens responsible gambling.

These rules apply to state-level gambling activities, especially those carried out by electronic, computer, telematic, or interactive means.

2. Who can operate lotteries like “Primitiva”

Law 13/2011 expressly establishes that, due to the large volume of gambling associated with lotteries and the risk of fraud or money laundering, the gambling activity of state-level lotteries is reserved for certain operators subject to strict public control. The text states:

• The exclusive reservation of the gambling activity of state-level lotteries is maintained in favor of Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE) and the Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE).
• Both entities have a specific designation and control regime, developed in Royal Decree 1614/2011 and related additional provisions.

In other words: a private operator cannot create on their own a “second state Primitiva”. They could only operate other types of non-reserved games by obtaining the corresponding enabling titles.

3. Enabling titles: licenses and authorizations

All state-level gambling activity regulated by Law 13/2011 is subject to the prior obtaining of an enabling title (articles 9 et seq. of the Law and Royal Decree 1614/2011):

• General licenses for large categories of games (bets, other games different from reserved lotteries, etc.).
• Specific licenses linked to each specific type of game within a category (for example, a specific draw modality).
• Authorizations for reserved activities, including state-level lotteries, granted only to designated operators (SELAE and ONCE).

The procedure requires proving economic and financial solvency, commercial and professional honorability, approved technical means, and the constitution of economic guarantees (developed in Royal Decree 1614/2011 and in orders and resolutions of the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation, DGOJ).

4. Protection of participants and responsible gambling

Law 13/2011 and Royal Decree 176/2023 emphasize:

• Prevention of addictive behaviors and protection of minors and vulnerable groups.
• The obligation of operators to implement responsible or safe gambling policies with specific operational plans, monitoring player activity, and identifying risk behaviors.
• The use of the General Register of Gambling Access Prohibitions (RGIAJ), which prevents participation by persons registered voluntarily or judicially.
• Setting economic limits on deposits and session conditions, especially in electronic channels.
• Reinforced obligations of clear information about rules, prize probabilities and risks, and help channels.

5. Technical requirements and control

Royal Decree 1613/2011 defines the requirements of technical gambling systems:

• Existence of a Central Gaming Unit and an internal control system that records all operations and transactions.
• Mechanisms of authentication, integrity, and confidentiality of communications.
• Guarantees of participant identification and verification that they are not in the RGIAJ nor subject to subjective prohibitions.
• Requirements of security, traceability, monitoring, and technological contingency plans.

The DGOJ (which assumes the functions of the former National Gambling Commission) supervises, approves systems, maintains registers, and exercises sanctioning authority.

6. Key limits and prohibitions

• Participation of minors and prohibited persons: access is banned for minors and those listed in the RGIAJ or subject to other subjective prohibitions (article 6 of Law 13/2011).
• Advertising and sponsorships: only games and operators with enabling titles may be advertised, within legal limits. Law 13/2011 classifies advertising of games without license or outside established conditions as an infringement, and also holds responsible the media, agencies, and advertising networks that disseminate such illicit advertising.
• Online gambling: requires prior user identification, linked gaming account, traceability of operations, and compliance with responsible gambling obligations reinforced by Royal Decree 176/2023.
• Tax obligations: besides the sector framework, game operation is subject to specific gambling taxation and general taxation on prizes and profits, regulated in specific tax rules.

In summary, organizing state-level draws equivalent to La Primitiva is not an activity open to any operator, but a reserved and heavily regulated sector, where only SELAE and ONCE can operate state-level lotteries and where other operators are limited to non-reserved games with licenses subject to very strict control, consumer protection, technical requirements, and tax compliance.

In Spain, the regulation and supervision of state-level lotteries mainly corresponds to the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), an administrative body attached to the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda. Under this regulatory umbrella operate the two main holders of the state lottery reservation: the Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE), a public company dependent on the Ministry of Finance, and the ONCE for its authorized lotteries.

Regulatory body and basic legal framework

The DGOJ is the sectoral regulator of state-level gambling, including lottery activity. Its position and functions are supported, among other rules, by Law 13/2011, on gambling regulation, which:

• Reserves state-level lotteries to operators designated by the State itself, mainly SELAE and ONCE.
• Subjects their operation to a specific legal regime and to the supervision of the General State Administration.

According to the institutional information of the DGOJ (DGOJ page), this body is responsible for the organization, regulation, authorization, supervision, control, and, where appropriate, sanctioning of all state-level gambling activities, including lotteries.

Main competencies of the DGOJ regarding state lotteries

Regarding state lotteries, the competencies of the DGOJ can be grouped into several blocks:

• Regulation and normative development: it drafts proposals for rules (royal decrees, orders, resolutions) that develop Law 13/2011 and set the conditions of the different games, including lottery modalities, their basic rules, marketing channels, operator requirements, and participant protection measures.
• Authorization of games and operators: issues the necessary reports and resolutions so that certain reserved lottery products can be legally operated. Formal authorization usually corresponds to the competent ministry holder but is supported by the technical instruction and proposals of the DGOJ.
• Supervision and inspection: controls that SELAE and ONCE develop their lottery products respecting legal and regulatory conditions: prize limits, draw structure, integrity of technical systems, consumer information, or marketing rules (including online sales).
• Control of technical, economic, and operational compliance: verifies that gaming and prize payment systems are secure and prevent fraud, money laundering, or irregular conduct. An example is the audit of SELAE's prize management later reviewed by the Court of Auditors (resolution of May 8, 2025).
• Sanctioning authority: when SELAE, ONCE, or any other online or in-person gambling operator breaches state regulations, the DGOJ can initiate sanctioning proceedings and propose fines, suspensions, or license revocations. In recent years, sanctions have also been imposed on SELAE itself, as reported by various press sources.
• Inter-administrative coordination: acts as interlocutor with other ministries (Finance, Economy, Interior) and with autonomous communities regarding the delimitation between state and regional gambling, prize taxation, or combating gambling addiction.
• Consumer protection and responsible gambling: promotes measures and tools to detect risk behaviors and strengthen player information. For example, it has developed early detection algorithms for problem gambling applied to online operators.

Role of SELAE and ONCE

It is important to differentiate between regulatory body and lottery operators:

• SELAE is a state-owned commercial company attached to the Ministry of Finance. It manages, operates, and markets the main state-owned lotteries (National Lottery, Christmas, Niño, La Primitiva, Bonoloto, Euromillions, Quiniela, etc.). It sets the operational conditions of the administration network, publishes official results, and organizes prize payment procedures (SELAE information).
• ONCE operates its own state-level lottery modalities (coupons, instant lottery, etc.) under a concession regime and under State protection, which verifies the conditions of its products and compliance with general gambling regulations, as reflected in various resolutions published in the BOE.

Neither SELAE nor ONCE are the sector regulator: they are operators subject to Law 13/2011 and supervised by the DGOJ and other control bodies (Court of Auditors, anti-money laundering authorities, etc.).

In summary, the body that regulates and supervises state lotteries is the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation, which acts as an independent regulatory authority within the General State Administration, while SELAE and ONCE are the designated operators to operate, respectively, the public state lotteries and the organization's social lotteries, always under this control framework.

In Spain, the taxation of lottery prizes, bets, and other games of chance is not regulated by a single rule but by a set of tax laws and regulations that establish the “special tax” on certain prizes and their integration (or not) into Personal Income Tax (IRPF), Corporate Tax, and Non-Residents tax. The most relevant are the following:

Basic direct tax laws

• Law 35/2006, of November 28, on Personal Income Tax (IRPF)
  It is the core rule that regulates how capital gains and prizes are taxed in IRPF in general. Through its thirty-third additional provision (introduced and amended by later rules) it establishes the special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets. It defines:
  • Which prizes are subject to this tax (State Lotteries and Bets, regional lotteries, ONCE, Red Cross, and equivalent non-profit EU/EEA bodies).
  • That the tax is independent of IRPF: the prize is not integrated into the taxable base but bears a special tax with “withholding as payment on account and final tax”.
  • Exemptions and the general operation of withholding.
• Royal Decree 439/2007, of March 30, approving the IRPF Regulation
  Develops Law 35/2006 regarding withholdings on prizes. Among other aspects:
  • Regulates the withholding percentage on prizes from games, contests, raffles, or random combinations in general.
  • Details when there is an obligation to withhold and exceptions (for example, prizes from certain games regulated by Royal Decree-Law 16/1977 or small prizes).
  • Technically connects with the special tax on lottery prizes.
• Consolidated text of the Non-Residents Income Tax Law (Royal Legislative Decree 5/2004, of March 5)
  Contains a fifth additional provision, added by Law 16/2012, which replicates for non-residents the special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets:
  • Declares subject to a special tax the same prizes as in IRPF, when obtained by a non-resident taxpayer without a permanent establishment.
  • Establishes the obligation of withholding or payment on account and foresees interaction with double taxation treaties (including the possibility of refund when the treaty limits taxation).
• Corporate Tax Law (currently Law 27/2014, of November 27, and previously consolidated text approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2004)
  Following Law 16/2012, the Corporate Tax regulations adapt so that entities subject to this tax that pay lottery and betting prizes:
  • Make withholdings or payments on account on the part of the prize subject and not exempt from the special tax.
  • Declare and pay those withholdings through specific forms.

Rules that create and articulate the special tax

• Law 16/2012, of December 27, on tax measures
  It is the key rule that creates the special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets:
  • Modifies Law 35/2006 to introduce the mentioned thirty-third additional provision in IRPF.
  • Adds the fifth additional provision to the consolidated text of the Non-Residents Law.
  • Modifies Corporate Tax regulations to subject these prizes to withholding or payment on account when paid to taxable persons.
  • Establishes the basic idea: prizes above an exempt threshold are subject to a special tax, withheld at the time of collection, separately from ordinary taxation in IRPF/Corporate Tax/Non-Residents Tax.
• Order HAP/70/2013, of January 30
  Approves form 230 (withholdings and payments on account for the special tax in IRPF, Non-Residents Tax, and Corporate Tax) and form 136 (self-assessment of the special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets), setting:
  • How withholders declare and pay withheld amounts.
  • How taxpayers self-assess the tax when applicable.
• Order HAP/2368/2013, of December 13
  Approves form 270, annual summary of withholdings and payments on account of the special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets, and specifies place, form, and deadlines for submission.
• Order HAC/763/2018, of July 10
  Modifies, among others, form 136 to adapt it to successive reforms (for example, changes in exempt limits and tax rate).

Sectoral gambling rules (lottery framework)

• Law 13/2011, of May 27, on gambling regulation, and its development regulations (royal decrees and resolutions of the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation).
  They do not directly set the special tax rate but regulate online and in-person gambling activities of state competence, licenses, and game modalities, on which the previous tax rules are later projected.
• Specific resolutions for State Lotteries and Bets, ONCE, and Red Cross (for example, resolutions on ONCE product regulations or conditions of the Red Cross “Golden Draw”).
  They define draw modalities and prizes and serve as a basis to determine which specific prizes fall within the scope of the special tax and withholdings.

In summary, the taxation of lottery prizes in Spain mainly rests on Law 35/2006 (IRPF), the IRPF Regulation (Royal Decree 439/2007), Law 16/2012, and the ministerial orders regulating the special tax and its forms (HAP/70/2013, HAP/2368/2013, HAC/763/2018), complemented by the regulations on Corporate Tax and Non-Residents Tax and the general framework of Law 13/2011 on gambling regulation.