Melco Crown Entertainment to Build Massive Casino Complex at Barcelona World
On Friday, the parliament of Spain's autonomous community of Catalonia announced a call for tenders to award six licenses to operate brick-and-mortar casinos in the upcoming Barcelona World (BCN World), the project which is expected to open in the province of Tarragona by 2017.
The companies interested in obtaining one of the licenses available will be required to guarantee a minimum initial investment of €300,000 and also to commit to a strict set of measures against money laundering. Applications are open until July 25, 2014.
The complex, which construction will require a total investment of over 4,700 million Euros and will include a large number of hotels, shopping malls, theaters, theme parks, golf courts and more, has already attracted the attention of two international gambling giants: Chinese casino company Melco Crown Entertainment and the Hard Rock.
According to what President of BCN World Xavier Adserà told media earlier this year, the Hard Rock is planning to build its biggest hotel in Europe and bring to BCN World a unique resort entirely dedicated to music and tailored to attract a young audience.
"Rooms will have top quality sound systems and the largest ones will also have musical instruments inside, such as a piano," Adserà said.
On April 25, Hong Kong based Melco Crown Entertainment signed a memorandum with Veremonte – the international group in charge of the project – committing to the development of a 35,000 square meter casino similar to the City of Dreams Casino in Macau within the BCN World. According to the memorandum, Melco will also build 18,000 apartments and several hotels.
The call for tender is a direct consequence of a decision that the Catalonian parliament adopted on May 29, 2014, when the assembly gave its official approval to the development of BCN World, which construction works are supposed to begin during fall.
The project, which Veremonte's CEO explained will be realized solely with the involvement of private investors and without any participation of the state, will benefit of a particular set of measures approved by the Catalonian parliament.
Once the works are completed, Spain's BCN World will become the biggest leisure and entertainment center in Europe. According to the developers of the project, BCN World is supposed to contribute to the development of the local economy by creating over 15,000 jobs and by strengthening the image of Catalonia as a top touristic destination.
Photo courtesy of BCNWorld.com
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