Today’s drawings, Thursday, November 5: schedules and prizes from Lotería Nacional, Bonoloto and La Primitiva

In Spain, there is no generic authorization to organize any lottery draw: the requirements vary depending on whether it is a state lottery, a paid raffle, or a free commercial promotion. The territory where participation is offered also matters. The basic state regulation is the Law 13/2011 on the regulation of gambling.

1. Identify the modality and territorial scope

Before selling entries, it is necessary to determine what activity is intended to be carried out:

• State lottery: is subject to a legal activity reservation.
• Paid raffle: requires examining its authorization as gambling, even if it has a charitable purpose.
• Promotional draw: has a different regime when it constitutes a random advertising combination without a specific payment to participate.

The state regulation applies to activities of state scope. If the draw is limited to an autonomous community, its regulations, competent authority, and tax obligations must be checked: it is not enough to automatically apply state rules.

2. State lotteries: reserved activity

The commercialization of state lotteries is reserved for SELAE and ONCE. Therefore, a company, association, or individual cannot freely create a state lottery through an ordinary gambling license.

The first additional provision of Law 13/2011 contemplates an exception: a ministerial authorization for non-profit entities, with a charitable purpose and sporadic nature, that meet the required conditions. The charitable purpose alone does not replace that authorization.

3. Raffles and occasional games: prior authorization

Article 12 requires prior authorization for occasional or sporadic gambling activities subject to state law. The applicant must pay the corresponding fees; in addition, limits on prizes may be established. If one month passes without notification of granting, the application is understood to be denied, not authorized.

The procedure is developed in Royal Decree 1614/2011. The organizer's capacity and required solvency must be proven, and legal prohibitions must not apply, such as certain sanction records or tax and Social Security non-compliance.

4. Promotional draws and tax obligations

Random advertising or promotional combinations are excluded from the general gambling regime under legal terms, but are not exempt from taxation. It is essential that the mechanics truly fit into that category: calling it a "promotion" does not transform a paid raffle.

Under the general state regime, these promotions are taxed at 10% of the market value of the prizes. Raffles are taxed at 20% of legally defined net income; those declared of public utility or charitable, at 5%. There are territorial particularities. This organizer taxation must be distinguished from the tax obligations associated with the winner's prize.

5. Participants, transparency, and digital channel

In games subject to authorization or license, participation prohibitions must be respected, including the protection of minors, providing information about the conditions and the enabling title, handling complaints, and paying prizes. It is advisable to specify the rules for awarding and delivery in advance.

Internet does not eliminate these requirements. Non-occasional state games require the corresponding licenses and, when appropriate, approved systems, participant identification, and security controls according to Royal Decree 1613/2011.

Organizing a game without the required authorization is a very serious offense. Before launching it, the modality, territory, participation price, prize, and necessary authorization must be defined.

The operation of ONCE and its Daily Coupon is governed by several complementary regulations, not by a single law. It is necessary to distinguish between the institutional regime of the organization, the state authorizations to operate lotteries, and the regulation that establishes the coupon conditions.

1. Organization and operation of ONCE

• Royal Decree 358/1991, of March 15, which reorganizes the National Organization of Spanish Blind People. It is its basic institutional regulation. It defines ONCE as a public law corporation of a social nature, with its own legal personality, capacity for self-organization, and non-profit. It regulates its purposes, governing bodies, economic resources, and subjection to State protection. Articles 7 and 8 are especially relevant for gambling activities and their public control. It must be consulted in its updated wording, not only in the original (BOE text).
• Order SCB/1240/2019, of December 18, publishing the consolidated text of the Statutes of the National Organization of Spanish Blind People. Develops its internal organization, affiliation, social purposes, and operation. The statutes were approved by the Protectorate Council and came into force on December 21, 2019 (ONCE Statutes).
• Law 5/2011, of March 29, on Social Economy. Its third additional provision recognizes ONCE as a singular social economy organization, governed by its specific regulations and with public gambling authorizations to finance its social purposes.

2. Authorization to commercialize lotteries

Law 13/2011, of May 27, on the regulation of gambling, provides the state legal framework. Its article 4 and first additional provision reserve state lotteries for legally designated operators, including ONCE. The second additional provision preserves its singular regime and specific public control over its games.

The twentieth additional provision of Law 46/1985, of December 27, on the General State Budgets for 1986, amended by Law 55/1999, is also relevant: it is part of the legal authorization of its gambling activities.

This framework is specified in the General Agreement between the Government and ONCE for 2022-2031, approved on November 2, 2021. Royal Decree 1127/2021, of December 21, adapted articles 7 and 8 of Royal Decree 358/1991 and the supervisory powers of the Protectorate Council to that framework (2021 reform).

3. Specific regulation of the Daily Coupon

The direct reference is the Regulation governing the products of the lottery modality called "ONCE Coupon", published by Resolution of April 4, 2023, of the State Secretariat for Social Rights. The Daily Coupon is included within this modality: to know its conditions, the common rules and the specific product rules must be read together (Coupon Regulation).

The regulation establishes its entry into force on April 1, 2023, and replaced the previous one from 2018 and its amendments. It must be consulted together with the Resolution of December 23, 2025, published on January 13, 2026, which modifies the regulation of this modality (subsequent amendment).

4. Supervision and advertising

ONCE must communicate the conditions and modifications of its products to the Protectorate Council, which verifies their conformity with the authorizations and orders their publication as a guarantee for consumers. In addition, Royal Decree 958/2020, of November 3, regulates the commercial communications of its lotteries, with the supervision particularities provided for the organization.

There is no single parliamentary procedure to modify the prizes of the National Lottery. First, it is necessary to distinguish between changing the amounts or distribution of prizes of a draw and modifying the laws that regulate their economic or fiscal treatment. The legislative procedure explained below corresponds to the second case: it should not be assumed that any change in prizes requires a law.

1. Determine what is intended to be modified

The decisive question is whether the intention is to change how much the winner receives, how the allocation of a draw's endowment is distributed, or what taxes the winner pays. The consulted material allows explaining how a law is modified, but does not establish which body can alter the specific conditions of each draw. Therefore, these steps cannot be automatically attributed to a commercial or operational modification of the prizes.

For a legal reform, using a general law or a specific law on lotteries does not by itself determine a different procedure: what matters is its content and parliamentary classification.

2. Submit the initiative

• Government: submits a bill, accompanied by a statement of reasons and background. The Congress Board orders its publication, opens the amendment period, and refers it to the competent committee. It does not require a prior vote of consideration.
• Parliamentary groups: may submit a bill signed by their spokesperson. Fifteen deputies may also do so. After its publication and referral to the Government, the Plenary must approve its consideration: deciding whether to start processing it.

If a bill or certain amendments imply increasing credits or reducing budget revenues, the Rules contemplate the Government's consent for its processing. This issue may be relevant when proposing to modify the taxation of prizes.

3. Debate and approve the text in the Congress

The common procedure includes an initial period of fifteen working days to submit amendments, subject to modification according to parliamentary rules. In government bills, there is only a totality debate if such amendments are submitted.

Then, a working group prepares a report and the committee debates the articles and approves a report. Final approval may correspond to the Plenary or, when appropriate, to a committee with full legislative competence. There is also a single reading for texts whose nature or simplicity allows it; therefore, not all phases always develop identically.

The general rule is a simple majority: more favorable than opposing votes, with the required quorum. If the text is classified as an organic law, it requires an absolute majority of the Congress in a final vote on the whole; that requirement does not arise simply because it deals with lotteries.

4. Senate intervention and final decision

The approved text goes to the Senate. If it introduces amendments or vetoes, it returns to the Congress. Amendments are accepted by simple majority. To lift the veto, the Congress needs an absolute majority initially or, after two months from its imposition, a simple majority in the ordinary procedure.

5. Possible urgent procedure

The Rules also contemplate the control of royal decree-laws: the Congress or the Permanent Deputation vote their validation or repeal within thirty days following their promulgation. After validating it, its processing as an urgent bill may be agreed. That route does not prove, by itself, that any prize modification can be approved by decree-law.

Reference: Congress Rules, especially articles 109–126 and 148–151.