# Are prediction markets legal in Spain? Kalshi and Polymarket (2026)

> No. As of October 1, 2026, no prediction market is licensed in Spain: the gambling regulator, the DGOJ, treats prediction markets as gambling that needs a specific Spanish license, and no operator holds the license for exchange betting on non-sport events. On May 26, 2026, the DGOJ opened sanction proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket and ordered both websites blocked as a precautionary measure; no final decision had been found by October 1, 2026. Event contracts that count as financial instruments fall under Spain's ban on selling binary options to retail clients.

- URL: https://safebet.ai/es/guides/are-prediction-markets-legal-in-spain/
- Markdown version: https://safebet.ai/es/guides/are-prediction-markets-legal-in-spain/index.html.md
- Last updated: 2026-10-01 (re-checked when an operator changes its terms or a regulator or court acts)
- Author: SafeBet.ai Research Team (SafeBet.ai)
- Editorial policy and advertiser disclosure: https://safebet.ai/editorial-policy/

## Key takeaways

- As of October 1, 2026, no prediction market is licensed in Spain, and the DGOJ treats prediction markets as gambling that needs a specific Spanish license.
- On May 26, 2026, the DGOJ opened sanction proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket and ordered both websites blocked as a precautionary measure; no final decision had been found by October 1, 2026.
- Spain's Gambling Act (Ley 13/2011) covers foreign operators that offer games to Spanish residents, and licenses granted by other countries aren't valid in Spain (art. 9.4).
- No operator holds the "otras apuestas cruzadas" license for exchange betting on non-sport events; the only licensed exchange is Betfair International Spain SA's, for sports only.
- Event contracts that are financial instruments fall under the binary-option bans (ESMA, July 3, 2026), and Spain's CNMV has banned selling binary options to retail clients since 2019.
- Nine European gambling regulators, including Spain's, called prediction markets "a form of gambling" on June 18, 2026, and France's ANJ ordered Polymarket blocked on July 16, 2026.

## Are prediction markets legal in Spain?

No. As of October 1, 2026, no prediction market is licensed in Spain. Spain's gambling regulator, the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego, DGOJ), treats prediction markets as gambling that needs a specific Spanish license. On May 26, 2026, it opened sanction proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket and ordered both platforms' websites blocked as a precautionary measure.

No final decision in that case had been found as of October 1, 2026. The financial-markets route doesn't help either: event contracts that count as financial instruments fall under Spain's ban on selling binary options to retail clients.

## The DGOJ's May 26, 2026 decision

On May 26, 2026, the [DGOJ announced](https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/novedades/dgoj-abre-expediente-sancionador-plataformas-polymarket-kalshi-ordena-bloqueo-sus-webs) that it had opened sanction proceedings against Polymarket and Kalshi, "dos plataformas de predicciones en las que se realizan apuestas" (two prediction platforms on which bets are placed) that would be operating in Spain without the required authorization.

- **The block is precautionary:** "una medida cautelar hasta la resolución definitiva del expediente" (a precautionary measure until the final decision). The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda, which the DGOJ belongs to, issued the blocking order.
- **The operators were notified through the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE)** after attempts to reach them at their known addresses abroad failed.
- **The DGOJ expected a final decision within three to four months.**

## Why Spain treats prediction markets as gambling

The DGOJ says prediction markets have "naturaleza de juego de azar" (the nature of gambling) when people bet on uncertain future outcomes, so operating them in Spain requires a specific license. Because users buy and sell shares on the outcome of future events, the model is also known as "apuestas cruzadas" (exchange betting).

That matches Spain's Gambling Act (Ley 13/2011):

- **Gambling (art. 3.a)** means staking money or anything of economic value on uncertain future outcomes that depend at least partly on chance, with stakes transferable between participants.
- **An exchange bet ("apuesta cruzada", art. 3.c)** is one where an operator acts as intermediary and guarantor of stakes between third parties, keeping a preset amount or percentage. Bets on events other than sports and horse racing are "otras apuestas" (other bets).
- **Foreign operators that offer games to residents of Spain are covered (art. 2.1.d)**, and any unregulated or unlicensed gambling is prohibited (arts. 5.3 and 9.2).
- **Foreign licenses don't count (art. 9.4):** "Los títulos habilitantes otorgados por otros Estados no serán válidos en España" (licenses granted by other States are not valid in Spain).

So Kalshi's US regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) isn't a Spanish authorization.

## Nobody holds a license for prediction markets

As of October 1, 2026, neither Kalshi nor Polymarket appears in the DGOJ's register of licensed operators. No operator holds the "otras apuestas cruzadas" license, which would cover exchange betting on non-sport events; the DGOJ describes these as events related to society, the media, the economy, entertainment, culture and similar fields.

No authorization, EU passport or warning for either platform was found in the registers of Spain's securities regulator, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), and no CNMV statement on prediction markets was found.

## What Spain does license

Spain licenses exchange betting on sports and fixed-odds bets on non-sport events. Both are gambling products, offered only by DGOJ-licensed operators.

| Product | DGOJ license | Licensees as of October 1, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange betting on sports | Apuestas deportivas cruzadas | 1: Betfair International Spain SA |
| Exchange betting on non-sport events | Otras apuestas cruzadas | None |
| Fixed-odds bets on non-sport events | Otras apuestas de contrapartida | 40 operators |

**Betfair's Spanish sports exchange.** Betfair International Spain SA is the only operator licensed for exchange betting, and only on sports; the register shows the license was extended on April 2, 2025. Betfair's former "otras apuestas cruzadas" license was extinguished on May 3, 2022.

**Fixed-odds bets on non-sport events.** The "otras apuestas de contrapartida" license covers fixed-odds bets against the operator on events in society, the media, politics, the economy, entertainment, culture and similar fields, under Orden EHA/3079/2011. The order excludes events that go against dignity, events whose result an impartial third party can't verify, and events the operator could influence. Forty licensed operators hold this license; whether each one actually offers such bets wasn't checked.

## The financial-instrument angle

Some event contracts may count as financial instruments rather than bets, but that doesn't make them available to consumers in Spain.

- **ESMA, July 3, 2026.** The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said "Not all event contracts are financial instruments": only those whose event question relates to an underlying listed in Annex I, Section C(4) to (10) of MiFID II, the EU directive on markets in financial instruments. Those are derivatives covered by the national binary-option bans, so "the marketing, distribution or sale to retail clients" of them "is prohibited". ESMA added that event contracts may also qualify as bets under national gambling law.
- **CNMV, 2019.** The CNMV's resolution of June 27, 2019, in force since July 2, 2019, bans the marketing, distribution and sale of binary options to retail clients resident in Spain, wherever the provider is based, and bans knowingly helping to get around it.

Either way, as of October 1, 2026, no prediction-market platform is licensed or authorized to offer its contracts to retail customers in Spain.

## What other European regulators are doing

Spain is part of a wider European push. On June 18, 2026, the gambling regulators of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland issued a joint statement on prediction markets during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It calls them "a form of gambling" that "must operate in accordance with the licensing and regulatory requirements of a given jurisdiction", and the regulators say they will "act, where necessary, against prediction markets platforms that fail to comply with our local regulations".

| Date | Authority | Action |
|---|---|---|
| January 8, 2025 | Poland's Ministry of Finance | Lists Polymarket's domains as prohibited gambling domains |
| April 14, 2025 | Poland's Ministry of Finance | Lists Kalshi's domains |
| May 26, 2026 | DGOJ (Spain) | Opens proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket; orders their websites blocked |
| June 18, 2026 | Nine gambling regulators, including the DGOJ | Joint statement on prediction markets |
| July 3, 2026 | ESMA (EU) | Binary-option bans cover event contracts that are financial instruments |
| July 16, 2026 | ANJ, France's gambling regulator | Orders French internet providers to block Polymarket |

## What this means for you

There's no licensed way to use a prediction market in Spain.

- **No Spanish protection.** Unlicensed platforms aren't covered by the RGIAJ (Registro General de Interdicciones de Acceso al Juego), Spain's national self-exclusion register, or bound by Spain's deposit limits, and the DGOJ warns they lack identity checks and controls on minors and self-excluded people. The joint statement also warns of "serious risks of illegality, fund blocking, fraud through insider information, and financial volatility".
- **The platforms' own terms put the legal risk on you.** Kalshi's Member Agreement requires users to confirm they aren't domiciled or located in any jurisdiction where "trading Event Contracts on the Platform is prohibited under Applicable Law". Polymarket's Terms of Use (effective August 11, 2026) say users won't use it "if the laws of your country, or any Applicable Law, prohibit you from doing so".
- Using a VPN or other IP-masking technique to gamble from Spain on an unlicensed site is itself a minor infraction under the Gambling Act (art. 41.f), punishable by a written warning or a fine of up to €100,000.
- **SafeBet.ai doesn't rank, review or link to prediction markets for Spain**, only to DGOJ-licensed operators. For how licensing works, read [are online casinos legal in Spain](https://safebet.ai/es/online-casinos/are-online-casinos-legal-in-spain/).

## Taxes

No guidance from the Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria, AEAT) on prediction-market gains was found as of October 1, 2026, so their tax treatment is unclear. For how Spain taxes winnings from licensed gambling, see our [guide to gambling taxes in Spain](https://safebet.ai/es/guides/gambling-taxes-spain/).

## What's still pending

- **The final decision.** As of October 1, 2026, no final decision, fine, appeal or lifting of the block had been found on the DGOJ's website, in its published sanctions or in the BOE, though the DGOJ's three-to-four-month estimate has passed. The law only requires final resolutions to be published, so a decision could exist without being public yet.
- **The charge.** The DGOJ's announcement doesn't say which infraction was charged or what penalty it is seeking.
- **The platforms' response.** No public statement by Kalshi or Polymarket about Spain or the DGOJ case was found.

## The bottom line

As of October 1, 2026, prediction markets aren't legal in Spain: the DGOJ treats them as gambling that needs a license nobody holds, has opened sanction proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket and ordered their websites blocked, and event contracts that are financial instruments fall under the retail ban on binary options. The only licensed exchange is Betfair's, for sports only. If gambling is causing you problems, see [where to get help for gambling problems in Spain](https://safebet.ai/es/guides/gambling-help-spain/), or browse all our [Spain guides](https://safebet.ai/es/guides/).

> This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. It reflects Spanish law and the DGOJ's actions as of October 1, 2026, which may change.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Polymarket legal in Spain?

No. As of October 1, 2026, Polymarket holds no Spanish license, and on May 26, 2026, the DGOJ opened sanction proceedings against it and ordered its website blocked as a precautionary measure. The DGOJ treats prediction markets as gambling that needs a specific Spanish license; no final decision in the case had been found by October 1, 2026.

### Is Kalshi legal in Spain?

No. Kalshi is regulated in the US by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), but Spain's Gambling Act says licenses granted by other countries aren't valid in Spain, and Kalshi holds no Spanish license. The DGOJ opened sanction proceedings against it on May 26, 2026 and ordered its website blocked pending a final decision.

### Is any exchange betting licensed in Spain?

Only on sports. As of October 1, 2026, Betfair International Spain SA is the only operator with the DGOJ's sports exchange-betting license ("apuestas deportivas cruzadas"), and no operator holds the license for exchange betting on non-sport events. Separately, 40 licensed operators hold the license for fixed-odds bets on non-sport events ("otras apuestas de contrapartida").

### Are event contracts financial instruments in Spain?

Some may be. On July 3, 2026, ESMA said event contracts whose question relates to certain underlyings listed in MiFID II are derivatives covered by the national binary-option bans, so selling them to retail clients is prohibited. In Spain, the CNMV has banned the marketing, distribution and sale of binary options to retail clients since 2019.

### How are prediction-market winnings taxed in Spain?

It's unclear. No Tax Agency (AEAT) guidance on prediction-market gains was found as of October 1, 2026. Our [guide to gambling taxes in Spain](https://safebet.ai/es/guides/gambling-taxes-spain/) explains how winnings from licensed gambling are taxed.

### Has the DGOJ fined Kalshi or Polymarket?

Not as far as public records show. As of October 1, 2026, no final decision or fine had been found on the DGOJ's website, in its published list of sanction resolutions or in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The DGOJ had estimated the proceedings would take three to four months, and the law only requires final resolutions to be published.

## Sources

1. [La DGOJ abre expediente sancionador a las plataformas Polymarket y Kalshi y ordena el bloqueo de sus webs](https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/novedades/dgoj-abre-expediente-sancionador-plataformas-polymarket-kalshi-ordena-bloqueo-sus-webs) — Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), 2026-05-26
2. [La DGOJ y los reguladores europeos suscriben una declaración conjunta sobre los riesgos de los mercados de predicción durante el Mundial de la FIFA 2026](https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/novedades/dgoj-reguladores-europeos-suscriben-declaracion-conjunta-sobre-riesgos-mercados) — Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), 2026-06-18
3. [Ley 13/2011, de 27 de mayo, de regulación del juego (consolidated text)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2011-9280) — Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), accessed 2026-10-01
4. [Buscador de operadores (register of licensed gambling operators)](https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/operadores-juego/operadores-licencia/operadores) — Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), accessed 2026-10-01
5. [Betfair International Spain SA: licenses and resolutions](https://www.ordenacionjuego.es/operadores-juego/operadores-licencia/operadores/betfair-international-spain-sa) — Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), accessed 2026-10-01
6. [Orden EHA/3079/2011 (otras apuestas de contrapartida)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2011-17963) — Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), accessed 2026-10-01
7. [Public statement on the application of the national product intervention measures on binary options to event contracts (ESMA35-243228190-8148)](https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2026-07/ESMA35-243228190-8148_Public_Statement_on_the_application_of_the_national_product_intervention_measures_on_binary_options_to_event_contracts.pdf) — European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), 2026-07-03
8. [CNMV resolution of June 27, 2019 on product intervention measures for binary options and CFDs (BOE-A-2019-9737)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2019-9737) — Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), in the BOE, 2019-06-29
9. [Promotion d'une offre de jeux d'argent illégale : blocage du site Polymarket](https://anj.fr/promotion-dune-offre-de-jeux-dargent-illegale-blocage-du-site-polymarket) — Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), 2026-07-17
10. [Register of domains used to offer gambling contrary to the Act](https://hazard.mf.gov.pl/api/Register) — Ministry of Finance (Poland), accessed 2026-10-01