The Spanish government has rejected the latest demands made by a US casino magnate in exchange for choosing Madrid as the location for a mammoth new gambling resort, dubbed Eurovegas.
The Eurovegas project included 12 hotels with 36,000 rooms, six casinos, golf courses, shopping malls, a convention centre, bars and restaurants, with an initial investment estimated at around six billion euros. This would rise to 17 billion by the completion date and the project was expected to create 25,000 construction jobs and 75,000 more in the services sector.
However, Las Vegas Sands has announced that it is no longer interested in Spain and will seek to set up its project elsewhere, probably in Japan or Korea.
At the latest meetings between the Spanish government and representatives from Las Vegas Sands, officials said that Spain was not willing to accept some of the company’s latest conditions, these including lower gambling taxes and guarantees of financial compensation in the event of future legislative changes under different governments.
The US company was a little concerned that a change of administration might lead to a reversal of already controversial agreements such as lifting the nationwide smoking ban inside the casino premises and giving the resort major tax breaks.
Providing compensation for future legislative changes, thereby ensuring that the company maintains its profit level, would violate European competition laws, but representatives of Las Vegas Sands said the conditions were not negotiable.