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| Las Vegas in coming to Spain - EuroVegas |
Make sure to have your wallets at the ready because in the next few weeks, if not even sooner, Sheldon Adelson, the man behind Las Vegas Sands, is expected to announce his decision about the future destination of EuroVegas, the hotel, casino and sport complex that is set to take over one lucky part of Spain.
Adelson has whittled it down just two cities, and about as typical as it can get in Spain, it is coming down to a shoot out between Madrid and Barcelona. It has been said that the gambler’s utopia will be the real deal, and that the complex will include six casinos, 12 hotels, commercial centres and several congress halls, as well as having nine theatres and three golf courses, just to top it all off (in total needing about 2000 acres of land). As well as being the host of all the roulettes, slots, blackjack and poker tables you can bear to imagine, it is said that either Madrid or Barcelona will most likely become the European capital for large conventions, something largely unheard of up until now.
And with all that in mind, there is no surprise that both of the Spanish giants are fighting for the EuroVegas casino complex. From an economic viewpoint, there is almost no wrong doing by building the macrocomplex, as it will give either Madrid or Barcelona even more tourism, more tax revenues and experts say that over the next 10 year period, it could provide more than 150,000 direct jobs, as well nearly 100,000 more indirectly.
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| The design for Adelson's EuroVegas |
Spain as a country was chosen long ago by Adelson, as he believed that the Spanish culture, cuisine and ambience will best fit the project, which experts believe in total will cost around $22 billion. With the recent bad press surrounding the Catalan community, it would seem that the Spanish capital is the safer selection for investors, but we shouldn’t place our bets just yet. With this being said however, it would seem that our gambler’s intuition has almost paid off as politicians claim Madrid officials have all but reached an agreement with the investors to have the EuroVegas complex built in Alcorcón, a 20 minute drive South-West of the Spanish capital.
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| Adelson says some regulations need to change |
There are other problems that lie before the EuroVegas investors, the most prominent of which is whether Spanish politicians are willing to change the laws on smoking indoors. One of Vegas’ best attributes is the feel-free atmosphere and not letting anything tear the players away from the tables, slots or the bar, so to have indoor smoking restrictions in a country stereotyped the world over as having a strong smoking contingent, seems like the joker card hidden within the pack. Adelson wants a lot of regulation changes, another of which would be allowing minors into the casinos since EuroVegas will also be promoted as a family holiday destination.
As you would have thought, Adelson’s proposal of EuroVegas hasn’t been without its opposition. There are those, of which the Spanish church is one, who believe that this gambler’s paradise will only so far as lead to more problems for an already struggling economy, saying that EuroVegas will only create a centre-point for prostitution, alcoholics, drugs, money laundering and gang violence. This point has been counter argued by both the Madrid and Catalan governments saying that the project will be promoted as resorts for businesspeople and will be family-friendly as much as anything else.
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| Adelson's EuroVegas could be Spain's saviour |
So with Madrid seemingly about to unlock the door to the European gambler’s dream getaway (not that I’m saying you should believe everything you see in the news), it seems Sheldon Adelson’s multibillion euro dream could soon become a drunken, smoke-filled reality. And as for the opposition, it comes down to whether people think this will be Spain’s saviour or whether EuroVegas will be Spain’s true Sin City.
Author: Jack
Author: Jack
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