Fewer Spaniards are reporting gambling problems although more of them are drinking alcohol and snorting cocaine. 

On Monday, Spain’s Ministry of Health published the XIII Survey on Alcohol and other Drugs in Spain (EDADES) 2019/2020, as well as the first study of addictions prevalent among residents aged 64 years or older. The survey queried nearly 18,000 respondents aged 15-64 between February and March, plus another 1,443 seniors for the 64+ portion. 

The survey found that some 6.7% of respondents had engaged in real-money online gambling in the previous 12 months, up from 3.5% in the 2017-18 survey and from 2.7% in 2015-16. Males (9.1%) were more than twice as likely to have gambled online than females (4.2%), while the 25-34 age demo had the greatest participation at 9.3%. 

There was much greater participation for land-based gambling (63.6%), which was up marginally from 2017-18 (59.5%) but significantly higher than 2015-16 (37.4%). The gender divide was split far more evenly – 65.9% male, 61.2% female) – while each successive age demo featured greater participation, peaking at 77.1% in the 55-64 group.