Polymarket Is Blocked in Spain, but on Orange 98% of Tests Still Load

Spain ordered internet providers to block Polymarket and Kalshi on 26 May 2026 while it decides a sanction case against both. Vultax asked the regulator where the case stands, and read four months of public network tests to see whether the block is applied.

• The block depends on the provider - From June to September 2026, 99.2% of polymarket.com tests failed on Telefónica (Movistar) and 1.6% on Orange.
• Orange blocks Kalshi but not Polymarket - Its kalshi.com tests began to fail in the week of 19 July; its polymarket.com tests kept loading.
• No decision is public - Spain's gambling regulator told Vultax on 1 October 2026 that it cannot say whether it has ruled. The ministry's estimate of three to four months has passed.
• The legal limit is about 26 November - The Gambling Act allows six months, and a fine of €1 million to €50 million.

Telefónica and Vodafone España failed nearly every test of both sites from June, the first full month after the order. Orange let polymarket.com through in 122 of 124 tests.

Two networks moved late. Xtra Telecom failed no test in June or July and most from August. Orange's kalshi.com tests began to fail in the week of 19 July, when 15 of 26 did; a week later all 32 failed.

DIGI and Vodafone ONO failed part of the time in every month, which fits a block applied on some connections and not others. Polymarket's own list of restricted countries, checked on 1 October 2026, does not name Spain, so the block works only through Spanish providers.

Spain's gambling regulator will not say whether it has ruled. "The Directorate General cannot provide additional information on the possible existence, status or outcome of any administrative proceedings relating to specific operators, beyond what has been officially published," the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) wrote to Vultax on 1 October 2026. The reply was in Spanish; the translation is Vultax's.

It did supply the gazette reference missing from the ministry's announcement: Boletín Oficial del Estado no. 128 of 26 May 2026. It declined to say whether it has asked Polymarket to block Spanish users itself, or whether payment providers must stop payments to the two operators.

The ministry said on 26 May that the case would take an estimated three to four months, and repeated that in a note of 5 June. That window closed on 26 September.

The law allows six months. Article 44 of the Gambling Act 13/2011 says a sanction procedure is to be decided within six months of the decision that opens it, which puts the limit at about 26 November 2026.

A decision may exist without being public. The regulator publishes sanction decisions only once they are final and notified. Its register held 219 on 1 October and none for Polymarket, Kalshi, Adventure One or Blockratize. Operating without a licence is a very serious infringement, with a fine of €1 million to €50 million and the possible closure of the websites used.

Vultax read the public record of OONI, the open network-measurement project, whose volunteers run automated tests of whether a website loads from their connection. Between 1 June and 30 September 2026 they ran 1,319 tests of polymarket.com and 2,641 of kalshi.com from 25 Spanish networks. A test counts as failed when OONI marks it anomalous, meaning the site did not load as it did from OONI's control connection. Across all networks, 48.4% of polymarket.com tests and 57.8% of kalshi.com tests failed.

The failures look like deliberate interference. In a sample of 12 September tests per network, the failed tests on Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange were connection resets or timeouts with a correct DNS answer. On DIGI the failed tests had a DNS answer that differed from the control and a security certificate that did not match the site. OONI classes none of these tests as confirmed blocking, because it holds no known block page for either site.

The tests come from volunteers. They show what happened on the connections tested, not the share of Spanish users who are blocked. The six networks in the chart account for 92% of the tests.

Vultax sent four questions to the Directorate General on 30 September 2026. The reply came the next day from its secretariat. It opened by saying the Directorate General "does not make public comments on specific inspection, control or, where applicable, sanction procedures that may affect specific operators or entities, beyond the information officially published". The answers are translated from Spanish.

Has a final decision followed the precautionary measure? The Directorate General replied with the sentence quoted above: it cannot provide information on the existence, status or outcome of proceedings beyond what has been officially published.

What is the gazette reference of the notification of 26 May 2026? "The notification your query refers to was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado no. 128 of 26 May 2026. The Ministry also announced publicly on that date the opening of sanction proceedings and the adoption of precautionary blocking measures in respect of the Polymarket and Kalshi platforms."

Has the Directorate asked Polymarket to block Spanish users itself? "The Directorate General does not comment on any communications, requests or actions directed at specific operators in relation to compliance measures or access restrictions."

Are payment service providers required to stop payments to the operators? "In the same way, we do not provide information on supervisory actions or requests that may be directed at payment service providers or other collaborating entities in the context of specific proceedings."

Czechia added Kalshi to its blocklist on 30 September, and its providers must block the site by 15 October: Czechia blocks Kalshi. Lithuania's regulator told Vultax the same day that Polymarket's operator has not appealed its block there: Lithuania is evaluating other prediction markets after blocking Polymarket.