Portugal’s Minister of Economy, Manuel Castro Almeida, has announced that the government will officially present a new legislative package this summer designed to aggressively target and dismantle unregulated online gambling networks.
Speaking at the formal launch of a national consumer awareness campaign, the minister labeled illegal betting platforms as an industrial plague, confirming that the forthcoming statutory updates will fundamentally modernize the territory’s active online gambling regulations.
Targeting the Impunity of a €24 Billion Black Market
According to Castro Almeida, the forthcoming draft law will focus intensely on strengthening regulatory oversight, implementing severe financial sanctions, creating active prevention frameworks, and educating the public regarding the severe socioeconomic hazards linked to unlicensed betting. The minister invited professional stakeholders to contribute regulatory ideas, emphasizing that the government is fully prepared to adjust text parameters to maximize enforcement efficiency:
“Illegal online gambling destroys many people, many families, many individuals, and it’s also terrible for the economy. Portugal’s online gambling market is valued at about €24 billion, and unlicensed activity is growing very fast, driven by the idea of impunity. If changing the law is necessary to make it easier to combat this problem, suggest it. The government is here for that.”
The political push materializes after a previous enforcement amendment introduced by the opposition party Livre was rejected in parliament, clearing the way for the government to advance its own unified proposal.
Single Database Self-Exclusion Tracking
The impending legislative update arrives amid an intensive phase of structural reform across the Portuguese gaming market. Earlier in January, the national gaming regulator modernized the country’s gambling act by officially authorizing popular European game formats, including bet boosts, bonus buys, and interactive bet builders, to align local licensed operators with broader EU product standards.
Concurrently, cyber security divisions enforced immediate domain level blocks against prediction platform Polymarket following the conclusion of the national election, signaling a zero tolerance stance on unapproved software models.
This enforcement track achieved a major milestone on April 8, 2026, when the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ) successfully deployed its comprehensive online self-exclusion system. The centralized portal completely replaces the historical, fragmented system that allowed players to bypass active self-exclusion orders simply by opening alternative accounts with competing local operators.
Under the unified framework, all licensed platforms in Portugal are linked to a single, real-time national database, ensuring that once a user registers for self-exclusion, their access is automatically blocked across the entire regulated network.
