Gaming operators will keep a close eye on Spain’s April 28 general election, which pits the left-wing socialist party Podemos against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s PSOE minority government. The result could impact the plans of Hard Rock International to build Hard Rock Entertainment World in Vila Seca and Salou.
While pundits have picked Sanchez to win, it will likely be by a slim margin that may compel the PSOE to form a “razor-thin” coalition with the populist Podemos group. Either way, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias is pushing for stricter limits on gambling. He recently laid out the party’s election pledge on Facebook, promising a series of “forceful measures” against the gaming industry.
Those measures include limiting the hours gaming establishments can operate; a ban on advertising and comps including free food, drinks and prizes; and limiting the number of gaming properties that can exist in a certain area. The party would also increase the taxes on gambling to fund mental health and addiction treatment centers, reported SBC News.
“In our country there are some problems that are not talked about too much on television, but which affect people’s lives in a very painful way,” Iglesias posted on Facebook. “Today I would like to talk to you about one of those problems, which worries us a lot and which we will assume as a priority because it is something that is doing a lot of damage to many families in Spain. I am referring to the increase in betting locations in the neighborhoods of our cities, especially in the most humble of our neighborhoods.”
Last February, the Spanish parliament rejected Sanchez’s PSOE minority government budget, forcing the PM to call for Spain’s third snap election in the past four years.
The race has been a contentious one. According to Jacobin, Spain has been “rocked by a series of revelations over spying operations directed at the left-wing party Podemos.” The magazine called it “Spain’s equivalent of Watergate.”
Meanwhile, Hard Rock International is thinking big for its upcoming resort complex in Vila Seca and Salou, Spain. Phase I of Hard Rock Entertainment World, set to begin construction in May 2020, will cost around €665 million (US$748 million) and include a 10,000-square-meter (108,000-square-foot) casino, a 1,000-room hotel, a retail shopping district and entertainment venues. The new park, which will take over from BCN World, will be one of the largest leisure complexes in Europe once it is complete.
The casino will be called Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tarragona, España. The company is reportedly planning to invest as much as €2 billion into the scheme.
