Hard Rock has gotten the green light for its proposed casino resort in the Tarragona province of Catalonia, Spain. The company proposes to spend €2 billion on what it has dubbed the World Project in Vila-Seco and Salou near the Barcelona international airport.
The first phase would spend €700 million on a casino with 1,200 slots and 100 table games, two hotels, retail shopping and a 15,000 seat theater.
Hard Rock estimates it would generate €1.3 billion in economic activity.
Other investors have found that Spain is tricky environment for gaming proposals. Las Vegas Sand discovered this with its now cancelled Madrid casino: Eurovegas in 2013 which came to grief over the country’s no-smoking rules. Cordish Gaming four years later ran aground on issues of tax law and other regulations.
Hard Rock will have a built in competitor, the Casino Barcelona, which is well established and hosts several popular poker series, such as the PartyPoker Grand Final.
