Operator News
Spain – Frustrations grow over Hard Rock delays
By James - 14 August 2023
Municipal authorities of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia have expressed their concerns over the delays over the Hard Rock Entertainment World.
In May 2018, the Government of Catalonia declared that it had given Hard Rock Entertainment World permission to build a casino and leisure complex in the southern towns of Vila-seca and Salou. However the project has been beset by problems most notably over planning permission. The two local municipalities are also unable to agree on how taxes from the new resort will be divided.
Renewed criticism came after the Minister of Health of the Generalitat, Manel Balcells, came out against the project while talking with the local media Catalunya Ràdio.
“I am absolutely against the Hard Rock casino. I hope that the promoters will back down,” he said.
In response, the mayor of Vila-Seca, Pere Segura, described the official as “very naïve.” Talking to La Vanguardia he said: “The company will not back down, it will wait for the resolution of the Generalitat. If I had the urban planning license, I would start on the works . . . It’s an easy criticism [to make], gaming is present in many areas. In Barcelona there are days when there are five cruise ships docked with their casinos, but when we talk about gambling in Catalonia we always point to Hard Rock,” he said.
Meanwhile the mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, also critisised the attitudes of the government and the councillor.
“We ask the Generalitat to clarify this situation, to definitively approve the urban master plan. We can’t delay the project any longer, investors will eventually get tired,” he said.
In May 2018, the Government of Catalonia finally declared that it had given Hard Rock Entertainment World permission to build a casino and leisure complex in the southern towns of Vila-seca and Salou. Although the scope of the project is smaller than initially envisaged the site will still be a major development and will have a huge impact on the area.
In February the Government of Catalonia signed an agreement for its budget in which it announced that it would evaluate “completing the processes related to the start of the Salou and Vila-seca Recreational and Tourist Consortium project” during the first semester of 2023. According to the document the Vila-seca and Salou project would go ahead, “after final approval of the Urban Development Plan”.
