Spain’s gambling and betting operators claimed a smaller share of the country’s e-commerce activity in the second quarter of 2020, casting further doubt on the government’s rationale for imposing tough new marketing limits. 

Figures released last week by Spain’s Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) show Spain’s e-commerce turnover hit just over €12b in the three months ending June 30, 2020, up 0.2% from Q2 2019 but €223m below the Q1 2020 figure. 

Gambling and betting accounted for 3.7% of all e-com transactions in Q2, ranking sixth among business sectors. Gambling’s score was unchanged from the same period last year but down from 4.1% in Q1 2020. 

In terms of the number of individual transactions, gambling and betting ranked fifth with 5% in Q2 2020, down from second place and 5.9% in Q2 2019. The transaction count is down even further from Q1 2020, during which gambling outpaced all other sectors with 6.4% of all online transactions.