{sheldon adelson} Madrid government rejoices at news of EuroVegas decision

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http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/09/09/inenglish/1347209728_338901.html

The announcement that EuroVegas will finally be built in Madrid after months of uncertainty was welcomed with “great joy” by the regional government, which called the news “a liberation.”

“The regional premier’s determination has brought this project here over other serious candidates like Barcelona,” said a spokesperson for Esperanza Aguirre, of the conservative Popular Party (PP).

Madrid and Barcelona had been fighting over the chance to host what amounts to a Las Vegas franchise — an enormous gambling complex that could hold up to 12 resorts with 3,000 rooms each, six casinos, an auditorium with a seating capacity for 15,000 people, nine show rooms, seven theaters, dozens of restaurants, bars and nightclubs, between one and three golf courses and 40,000 parking spots. The project is the brainchild of the US business tycoon Sheldon Adelson, the world’s 14th richest individual and owner of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), who said he wants “to create a mini-Las Vegas in Europe.”

“Perhaps today, unlike 30 years ago, Madrid is more cosmopolitan and more open than Barcelona,” said Aguirre in a radio interview to justify Adelson’s decision to snub the Catalan nationalist government. “Catalonia has an advantage that we cannot compete with, which is the sea, but perhaps the sea is not so interesting to someone who just wants people to be in his hotels, his theaters, his museums and his sports areas.”


A view of the Alcorcón site that is considered the most likely venue for the EuroVegas project. / ZIPI (EFE)