Spain Protests Eurovegas

Hundreds of demonstrators have turned out to protest against plans for a new gambling resort in Madrid.

The Spanish capital has been chosen over Barcelona as the location for the multi-billion euro super-complex, which has been dubbed “EuroVegas.”

The project put forward by U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his company Las Vegas Sands would produce six casinos, 12 hotels and create jobs in a country on the brink of its second recession in four years and an unemployment rate near 26 percent. However, naysayers reckon it will cost Spain more in grants, concessions and problems than it would yield benefits.

“We are against it because there has been no public consultation, no access to information, no transparency and there are lots of promises about bringing in jobs, but there is no proof, no evidence,” one protester told Spanish media.

Another said: “We are against this project because it’s unsustainable, it will generate nothing but bad things for Spanish society.”

Las Vegas Sands intends to fund only 35 percent of the resort it is proposing and is demanding changes in local laws.
With Spain in recession and considering a bailout, finding the rest of the funding is likely to be tough.