Maria Eloisa Gotor Rodriguez has been appointed Head of the Gambling and Betting Control Service within Catalonia’s Directorate General for Taxes and Gambling, following a merit and competency-based selection process.
The appointment was confirmed by Catalonia’s Department of Economy and Finance after a recruitment process launched in June for two positions within the directorate. Àlex Nistal Vazquez has also been appointed Tax Reports Officer.
The Gambling and Betting Control Service sits within the Directorate General for Taxes and Gambling, which handles regulatory and administrative functions including gambling complaints, the register of authorised gambling activity and controls covering raffles and other games. It also oversees the register of people prohibited from accessing gambling establishments.
The position filled by Gotor Rodriguez had previously been advertised as an A1-27.1 civil service role within the Subdirectorate General for Gambling and Betting Management and Control. The vacancy required applicants to be career civil servants in Catalonia’s senior administrative corps.
Catalonia has exclusive authority over gambling, betting and casinos where activity takes place solely within the autonomous community. Its powers include authorising and regulating gambling activities, supervising premises and equipment and determining applicable gambling taxation within its competencies.
This differs from Spain’s national framework for state-wide online gambling, which is supervised by the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ). Traditional land-based casinos, bingo halls and gaming venues instead fall under the regulatory authority of Spain’s autonomous communities.
Catalonia currently caps the number of authorised gaming halls at 126 and bingo halls at 75. Four casino authorisations are permitted across the region, with separate provisions allowing additional casinos at the Vila-seca and Salou recreational tourism centre.
The Directorate General for Taxes and Gambling is responsible for issuing establishment authorisations.
The appointment also follows changes to Catalonia’s gambling legislation in 2025, when lawmakers removed provisions that would have introduced a reduced 10% casino tax rate connected to the Vila-seca and Salou development.
Spain’s national online gambling market recorded €454.2m ($526.9m) in GGR during Q1 2026, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year despite a 6.5% quarter-on-quarter decline. Online casino generated €247.8m, while sports betting contributed €174.5m.
Catalonia’s current tax schedule applies rates ranging from 20% to 55% to casino gaming depending on the taxable revenue band
