At present
there are four casinos in Catalonia’s territory and one or two more large scale
casinos will form part of the newly established CRT, although just 4 % of the
development – 30,000 sq m – will be given over to gaming space.
The massive
development is due to be located around 60 miles south of Catalonia’s capital,
Barcelona, and sees Melco Crown Entertainment and Hard Rock International
competing to operate a casino each, while local firm Grupo Peralada have
partnered with Malaysian giant Genting Group to present a proposal for a single
large scale casino in the resort.
This March,
the department of the economy of the Generalitat of Catalonia extended the
deadline for phase two of the casino licensing process, giving the selected
companies a further three months to present their proposals.
While the
works were originally set to start in the summer, the winning proposal will now
not be chosen before July at the earliest. Investors have pointed to the
complex technical standards as laid down by the Generalitat as part of the
reason why they have needed more time to revise their bids.
Genting
representatives were reportedly the first to request an extension, arguing that
three months were not sufficient time to form a solvent proposal. Although
their submission was believed to be more advanced, Melco and Hard Rock have
also pressed for the tender deadline to be lengthened.
The
Generalitat has conceded, despite being reluctant to further delay a project
that already accumulated several setbacks.
A recent
study by Tarragona’s Universitat Rovira i Virgili estimates that the
construction of the project could generate around 12,000 jobs and produce an
economic impact in the area of € 1.55 million annually.