Project subject to political pressure
A giant destination resort planned for Barcelona, Spain has been reworked and reduced to a quarter of its proposed size, according to multiple reports. It’s even lost its name.
The scaled-down project is no longer known as BCN World, but goes by the tongue-twister “Complejo Turístico y Recreativo de Vila-Seca y Salou” (Spanish for “Leisure and Tourism Complex of Vila-Seca and Salou”), according to Yogonet.com.
“BCN World is dead and buried,” said Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy Oriol Junqueras last month.
The grandiose project fell victim to political squabbling; the left-wing ERC and CUP parties used their power to slash the original plan, which called for six casinos, six theme parks, some 12,000 hotel rooms, plus a convention center, shopping district and other attractions.
According to the website Spanishpropertyinterest.com, politicians ordered the developers to retool the ambitious plan, which caught the interest of global gaming companies including Malaysian gaming giant Genting, U.S.-based Hard Rock International, and Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development. In March, the latter two “expressed an interest in investing as much as €2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion) in BCN World once a master plan was approved”; all three are reportedly still in the running.
Construction is now expected to start in mid-2017, with a total investment of up to €2.5 billion (US$2.8 billion). The footprint of the total project has been cut by about a fourth to around 745,000 square meters (8.0 million square feet). There will be two casinos at most, with a total area of 30,000 square meters, one-seventh of the 210,000 square meters called for in the original plan.
Spanish media report that three investors are now in the running: Hard Rock; Melco International; and Spanish-based Grup Peralada, in partnership with Genting. The winner should be announced in the first quarter of 2017.
Melco went on the record saying the company “remains committed to working with the government of Catalonia to bring world-class integrated resorts to the region.
According to Casino.org, licensees will pay a deposit of €2.5 million ($5 million) and must commit to investing up to €2.5 billion ($5 billion) into creation of their casinos. There will be a 20 percent tax on gaming revenue, while an extra one percent will go towards local cultural projects. Accepted bids are expected to be announced early in 2017.
