* Consumer protection minister announces proposed curbs
* Plans to ban celebrity endorsements for gambling companies
* Soccer clubs face potential sponsorship restrictions
(Adds detail, quotes, context)
By Paola Luelmo and Emma Pinedo
MADRID, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Spain's consumer protection
minister Alberto Garzon unveiled plans on Friday for a crackdown
on advertising by gambling companies and casinos to address
growing addiction.
The proposals are an attempt by Garzon's left-wing Unidas
Podemos party to make good on its campaign promise to protect
youth and gambling addicts, having formed a coalition government
with the Socialist Party in January.
The gambling industry has flourished in Spain over the past
decade as online gambling, sports betting and casinos have
dwarfed the state-owned lottery and slot machines in pubs and
restaurants.
The government aims to reduce television gambling
advertising by as much as 80% and ban companies from hiring
celebrities to market gambling products and services.
"The regulation has to be similar to tobacco," Garzon said.
"We are not regulating the textile sector here, but a sector
that has an impact on public health."
Soccer idols such as Luka Modric and Eden Hazard feature on
advertisments for Spain's largest gambling company, Codere
.
The new proposals also include a ban on marketing that
offers the likes of free bets to new customers, which Garzon
said lures vulnerable groups into gambling.
Government data shows that online betting by Spaniards has
almost tripled between 2014 and 2018 to 17.8 billion euros
($19.2 billion).
The Spanish gambling lobby estimates that the nation's
gamblers lose about 10 billion euros a year - equivalent to
about 0.8% of Spain's GDP - through sports bets, casinos and
national lottery tickets combined.
Sports betting is now so strong that almost all leading
Spanish soccer clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid,
feature gambling brands among their their official sponsors.
Among those with gambling companies as official shirt sponsors
are Levante, partnered by Betway.
Such sponsorship, however, has come in for heavy criticism
in some quarters. In 2018 Real Sociedad asked its members
whether it should sign sponsorship agreements with a gambling
company. Members overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.
The government, however, plans to prevent soccer clubs from
selling to children jerseys emblazoned with gambling brands, but
its proposals stop short of a total ban on such logos on
professional teams' official kits.
The plans will need to be discussed by the cabinet before
being put before parliament, though Garzon did not provide a
timeframe.
($1 = 0.9253 euros)
(Reporting by Paola Luelmo and Emma Pinedo
Editing by David Goodman)