Opening

The opening of the new casino of Asturias took place on February 22 in the city of Gijón, with the attendance of outstanding personalities from the Asturian social scene. The building of the Bahía de Gijón Casino has been completely refurbished and is located in the centre of town; the operator is Carbajosa group. In words of the regional authorities, the new gaming establishment will favour a boost of local economy and generate greater riches for its citizens. The Bahía de Gijón did not begrudge any means whatsoever to implement cutting edge technology that allows 300 visitors to play simultaneously; the gaming hall has 15 tables (Poker, Black-Jack, Punto et Banca and Wheel of Fortune), in addition to over 50 type C casino machines, the only ones of their kind in this one-province Autonomous Community. The machine hall can place 80 people; the lowest stake is only 1 EUR cent or EUR 0.01 (Atronic machine); Jackpot may reach 1,800 €uros; all stakes up to EUR 0.50 are cash. The new establishment estimates it will attract an average of 80,000 to 85,000 visitors a year.

Reopening

After being closed for 3 months, the seasonal casino of Gandía, province of Alicante (Valencian Community) reopens. This is the second operating season for this small casino of 1,000 sq.m. that estimates an increase of over 3% in the number of visitors for this season, that is to say, more than 60,000 people. The casino of Gandía operates under a license extension of the Casino Monte Picayo, managed by the CIRSA Group, and has a payroll of 60 employees.

Project

Business group ORENES-FRANCO, formed by Recreativos Orenes and Recreativos Franco, has presented its project for the installation of a new casino in the city of Castellón, in the province of Castellón de La Plana (Valencia Autonomous Community). The Orenes-Franco project situates the future 2,000 sq.m. gaming surface casino in a leisure centre covering a total surface of 4,350 sq.m. and located in the very port of the city; the new entertainment and leisure resort offers several attractions: restaurants, cinemas, convention centres, theatre, etc. The Orenes-Franco project, or „Casino Puerto Azahar“, represents an investment of 20 mill. EUR and expects to generate 545 jobs, 255 direct jobs and 290 indirect jobs, in addition to a training school for casino personnel. According to forecasts, the new casino of Castellón will generate nearly 6 mill. EUR in gaming tax. The tender is in wait of a final decision, and other bidders are the Perelada-Inverama group and Rank España

Note: On closing this newsletter, adjudication of the Castellón casino has already taken place, and the successful bidder is the Orenes-Franco group.

Projects

There are apparently five companies bidding for the management and administration of the casino of Lloret de Mar, province of Gerona (Catalonia). This casino is still operating under an extension of the license of the Peralada casino (operated by Inverama), waiting for the official adjudication of a new operator. The Catalonian government has modified the casino legislation and has extended to 4 the number of casinos allowed in Catalonia (annex halls to existing casinos are not allowed). In the coming weeks the adjudication will be put out to tender. Tat present, some of the bidding companies are the -Peralada-Inverama group, the hotel group Guitart, etc.

Draft

The government of the Autonomous Community of Aragón has announced a draft Decree to change certain points of the regional Regulations. These changes are aimed at allowing the opening of annex halls to existing casinos, under certain conditions. The new regulation will authorize a permanent casino to open a maximum of 1 annex hall, as an extension of its existing license, if and when the hall is situated within the same province; the annex hall will be allowed to exploit casino games and gaming machines and it will be equivalent, legally speaking, to seasonal casinos. Final approval of this draft is only in wait of the approval of the corresponding Commissions.