Polymarket and Kalshi blocked in Spain too
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31 May 2026 •
Reading time: 2 minutes
A new thunderclap for prediction markets in Europe. Spain is temporarily banning access to Polymarket and Kalshi to protect its bettors, following in the footsteps of Belgium and a growing coalition of European countries.
The hammer has fallen in Madrid. The Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), the Spanish gambling regulator, has just ordered the temporary blocking of the Polymarket and Kalshi platforms.
The authorities have opened a formal sanction procedure and are investigating to determine whether these two American giants operated illegally in Spain, without holding the mandatory licenses required by national law. A final verdict is expected within three to four months.
Prediction markets in Spain
Prediction markets allow people to wager money on the outcome of future events, such as a political election or the weather. For Spain, they fall directly within the legal definition of gambling. As soon as an internet user places a bet on an uncertain future result, it constitutes a wager.
And in Europe, anyone offering bets to the public must show clear credentials and obtain administrative authorization.
Player protection is the priority
Beyond the simple shortfall in tax revenue for the State, the DGOJ highlighted serious shortcomings in consumer protection to justify this precautionary blocking.
The regulator points out the total absence of serious identity verification on these platforms, the lack of barriers to prevent minors from betting, and the impossibility of protecting addicted players registered on self-exclusion lists.
In Belgium, the blocking is already a reality
This Spanish offensive is by no means an isolated case and follows a global resistance movement by European regulators.
Belgium is one of the pioneer countries on this matter. Here, the Gaming Commission (KSC) applies a very strict zero-tolerance policy. Polymarket and Kalshi are already included on the national blacklist, and their access is technically blocked by Internet Service Providers. Without a proper license issued in Brussels, these operators have no right to operate on Belgian territory.
Spain thus joins an increasingly long list of countries that have banned these practices. France banned them in late 2024 after wagers exploded during the US presidential election, followed quickly by Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Poland.
While most of Europe barricades itself, a few rare jurisdictions are trying a different approach. Malta recently announced it is actively exploring avenues to regulate this sector rather than banning it, while Gibraltar issued its very first official license to a prediction market operator earlier this year.
For Polymarket and Kalshi, the noose is tightening, and the era when gambling laws could be bypassed under the guise of technological innovation seems well and truly over.