Spanish casino group, Casino Gran Madrid (CGM) has been awarded a licence to operate the first legal online casino in the Autonomous region of Madrid by the Dirección General de Tributos y Ordenación del Juego.
A CGM spokesperson said the two-year project has involved over fifty professionals and has attained software accreditation from the Polytechnic University Madrid, who have claimed responsibility for the approval process, through the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Innovation, at a total project cost of Euros 3 million to the company.
The licence will allow CGM to operate in the autonomous region of Madrid until the National draft law on gambling has been published in Spain’s official Gazette, due this week.
Exhibiting impressive forward vision in March 2009, the casino group engaged with online gambling provider Playtech to develop internet operations ahead of the likelihood of a national liberalisation of the industry. That vision has resulted in a Playtech-powered casino platform and poker offering with a customer management solution provided by Spanish firm MediaTech Solutions.
Casino Gran Madrid has had to undergo rigorous certification and regulatory procedures which include giving autonomous control to regulators for supervisory purposes and one million simulations of each game.
Director of the Casino Gran Madrid System, Jorge Casanova said: “Casino Gran Madrid will continue to be a single brand which will bring its values to the internet and seek to maximize synergies, from compliance with the principles that have guided the actions of this Casino, security, quality, safety, standards of professionalism and proven experience. ”
Industry observers are reporting that a gross gaming revenue (gross profit tax) of 10 percent will be applied to the operation as opposed to the proposed 25 percent gross gaming revenue under the National draft gambling law.