Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Rights has taken a temporary restrictive measure against prediction market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi, blocking access from country-based IPs.
Spain Becomes Latest Jurisdiction to Target Kalshi, Polymarket
According to the ministry, neither platform has been cleared to actually offer its products locally, with Polymarket and Kalshi focusing on a diverse range of events – from politics to the weather.
This means that the platforms won’t be available over the next three to four months, as the ministry conducts its investigation into the platforms and seeks to establish whether the platforms have followed the letter of the law, or whether there was indeed a breach of local laws.
While the probe is ongoing, Kalshi and Polymarket must not accept players locally.
The enforcement action taken in Spain follows after a similar investigation was announced in South Korea, and comes only days after Indonesia blocked access to Polymarket in the country, arguing that the platform constitutes a form of illegal gambling.
In a statement, the ministry further presented its legal arguments for the current decision:
“In Spain, in line with other European jurisdictions, prediction markets are considered gambling when bets are placed on uncertain future outcomes. Therefore, operating them in Spain requires obtaining a specific administrative licence.”
European countries have already hammered prediction markets in the past
Enforcement action against prediction markets has not been lacking across the political block, as France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, among others, have also targeted the sector.
France’s gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), went so far as to call Polymarket’s markets a form of “illegal gambling.” As to Spain, the ministry said that it had attempted to notify the companies about its decision, but was “unsuccessful.”