Huge casino coming to Spain

EuroVegas to cover 750 football fields, cost $29.5 billion

— A multi-billion dollar EuroVegas casino resort will be built on the outskirts of Madrid, hopefully bringing much-needed jobs and investment, officials from Spain and Las Vegas Sands casinos said Friday.

Madrid’s regional government president, Ignacio Gonzalez, said EuroVegas will occupy an area equivalent to 750 football fields in the suburb city of Alcorcon. The first phase of construction will begin late this year.

Building the entire complex just south of Madrid is likely to take up to 18 years, and it is estimated that some 260,000 jobs could be created.

The mind behind the project is 79-year-old American tycoon Sheldon Adelson and his company, Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The figures linked to the plans presented at Madrid’s town hall are dizzying, especially for a country with a swollen deficit and unemployment at 26 percent.

Some $29.5 billion will be invested to build 12 hotels, six casinos, a convention center, three golf courses, theaters, shopping malls, bars and restaurants.

Las Vegas Sands operates casinos and entertainment complexes in several locations around the world, including Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore.

Michael Leven, Las Vegas Sands chief executive officer, said the group will cover 35 percent of the equity investment and assured Madrid authorities that funding to complete the rest of the project would be found. It was not clear where the remaining 65 percent will come from.

Leven said Spanish banks would be among the investors, but he did not reveal which.

Despite the apparently large inward investment and the potential for job creation, EuroVegas has been met with rejection in many sectors of Spanish society.

More than a dozen organizations, mainly linked to environmental causes or to the political left, last year created the EuroVegas No platform to oppose the project.

The group reacted to Friday’s announcement by saying Las Vegas Sands wanted to create an “island” for gambling and will count on specially granted tax breaks and the relaxation of laws regulating smoking bans.

Critics have said the project will promote unwanted activities such as prostitution and only create low-level jobs such as card dealers, waiters and hotel maids.

They say what the country, and especially its young people, need are higher-skills jobs.

Information for this article was contributed by Ciaran Giles of The Associated Press.

Business, Pages 32 on 02/09/2013

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