Underage Gambling Rises, Authorities Denounce "Lack of Oversight
The 2025 report of the National Plan on Drugs reveals that 13% of students bet online and 20.9% did so in person. Intensive spending is concerning: 10% of digital players invest more than 300 euros daily.
The barriers to prevent minors from betting seem to have increasingly large cracks in Spain. The Ministry of Health, through the National Plan on Drugs, presented its annual overview of behavioral addictions for 2025, and the data is not encouraging: more teenagers are gambling, they do so more frequently, and cases of problematic gambling are on the rise.
The study, which has a robust sample of 35,256 students aged between 14 and 18 from 836 educational centers, confirms a trend change. In the last year, 13% of respondents admitted to having bet money online, a figure that represents a jump of 2.3 percentage points compared to 2023. The gender gap remains notable in the digital environment: prevalence among boys is 20.7%, compared to 5.3% among girls.
The paradox of in-person gambling
Perhaps the most alarming data comes from the physical world. Despite the law strictly prohibiting minors from entering betting venues, 20.9% of teenagers stated they accessed gambling halls in 2025 (2.2 points more than two years ago).
Faced with this reality, Xisca Sureda, Government delegate for the National Plan on Drugs, was emphatic in pointing out the responsibility of operators and authorities. For the official, these figures demonstrate that "there is a lack of control and monitoring of access to these places," casting doubt on the effectiveness of current identification systems.
From fun to extreme risk
The report also sheds light on consumption habits. While most teenagers spend symbolic amounts (less than 6 euros), there is a high-risk niche: 10% of those who play online and 4.7% of those in person claim to spend more than 300 euros daily, a figure suggesting serious behavioral problems and access to funds.
The study clarifies that not all players are addicted, but the risk curve is rising. The prevalence of problematic gambling stood at 4.9%, almost a point above 2023. However, when isolating those who bet online, the risk soars: 27.7% of digital players show symptoms of problematic gambling.
During the presentation, the Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, along with Sureda, insisted that these "rigorous and updated" data must be the compass to redirect public prevention policies, which today seem to be losing the race against gambling accessibility.
Tags: Spain, underage compulsive gambling, smaller bets Spain, gambling addiction Spain