Hard Rock Entertainment’s license to build an entertainment complex in the Catalan region of Spain, which expired on December 5, has been extended for three months by the government. Meanwhile, opponents of the proposed Hard Rock Entertainment World in on Catalonia’s southern coast are demanding that the license be revoked.
In May 2018, the government of gave the U.S.-based firm permission to build a casino and leisure complex in Vila-Seca and Salou. The company reportedly has been unable to complete the financing package for the destination. Versions of the large-scale project have been in the works for years; in 2015, the Veremonte Group planned to create Europe’s largest holiday resort in Catalonia, to be called BCN World. When Veremonte pulled out, the government reached an agreement with La Caixa Bank to buy the 500 hectares of land (1,235 acres) allocated for BCN World.
According to the environmental group Ecologists of Catalonia, Hard Rock did not present all the documentation required in the bidding process.
Hard Rock Entertainment World will include two hotels with more than 1,000 rooms, a shopping district, entertainment facilities, and a casino with up to 1,200 slot machines and 100 table games. The company is reportedly planning to invest as much as €2 billion (US$2.227 billion) into the scheme.
