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Feisty 80-year-old gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson has cancelled plans to build a $30 billion gambling and leisure complex outside of one of Europe’s biggest metropolises, Madrid, Spain.
No way had been found to meet the "necessary criteria" for the project, the head of Las Vegas Sands Corporation said in a press release.
The project, dubbed “Euro Las Vegas” was set to get underway this month in Alcorcon. It would have included six casinos, shopping malls, hotels, various leisure areas and thousands of gambling rooms. Some 250,000 jobs were also likely to have been created.
Adelson was denied tax incentives while Spain refused to relax its staunch legislation on gambling offences.
The government also refused to grant Adelson the right to damages in case some of the norms regulating the gambling complex were changed to his disadvantage as this would have been a clear violation of European competition legislation.
In recent months, Adelson has become the most outspoken critic of legalizing Web gambling in the US, calling the activity a “cancer” and detriment to society.
Adleson’s Las Vegas Sands said it would now seek opportunities in Asia.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
