Pride And Avarice: The collapse of Eurovegas

Avarice, also known as greed, is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Its broad definition is well enough understood, but there is a bit more to it than just the pursuit of material possessions. Avarice can inspire, so theologians would argue, a manipulation of authority.

Though avarice is addressed in The Bible, gambling is not expressly discussed. Nevertheless, and again taking guidance from writers and thinkers in such matters, it can be interpreted as being contrary to The Tenth Commandment, the one that has to do with covetousness. Moreover, it can bring on sloth, a further Deadly Sin, because it destroys the work ethic. In broader, non-religious terms, but ones nonetheless raised by theologians, gambling can be seen as bad governmental policy. It undermines morals and invites corruption**.

The Spanish newspaper "La Razón" headlined its article about the Eurovegas project in Madrid being dropped thus: "La avaracia de Adelson trunca Eurovegas". Literally, this means Sheldon Adelson's avarice truncates Eurovegas. A better verb than truncate might be sink, but whether truncated or sunk, the consequence is the same: 30 billion dollars will now not be invested in Eurovegas and complementary "integrated" resort projects in the Spanish capital.

The reason why "La Rázon" (which means "reason") has spoken about avarice is that demands which the Las Vegas Sands Corporation had made on the Spanish Government in return for its 30 billion dollar largesse were unacceptable. In financial terms, they were the payment of lower gambling taxes and guarantees of financial compensation in the event that future governments alter legislation which proves disadvantageous to the company. Even had the government been willing to consider the latter, it would have run up against a problem with Brussels. The compensation clause was a non-starter.

The demands were apparently non-negotiable and had also been introduced late on in negotiations. It seems almost inconceivable that the company wouldn't have been aware of European competition law which would have made the compensation demand impossible. Maybe it was unaware, but a conclusion that might be drawn from this demand is that the company either got cold feet about the Madrid project or saw less restriction elsewhere. Las Vegas Sands is looking at Asia as somewhere to pursue its "integrated" gambling resorts, and in Asia there might also not be a similar problem to that in Spain regarding smoking. The company had wanted the smoking ban not to apply to Eurovegas, another demand that was always going to pose a potential problem.

Or had it been the case that Las Vegas Sands would have thought that Spain was that desperate for investment that the government would simply roll over and say yes? It's doubtful. The project would have meant huge money but even Spanish governments have to abide by some rules and to be seen to be at least partially even-handed; it couldn't start making a massive exception on smoking without raising an equally massive objection from all sorts of business sectors across the country.

But, and here one comes back to the Deadly Sin, there is what avarice can inspire, i.e. a manipulation of authority. Perhaps "La Rázon" had adopted a rather more philosophical attitude to its definition than just plain material gain. The demands, it could be argued, were an attempt at manipulation. Then there is the notion that gambling can invite corruption, and here the Eurovegas story gets that bit murkier. A judge, José Manuel Gómez Benitéz, said some time ago that Eurovegas would be a "source of corruption", and let's face it, the last thing that Spain and its government need right now is any further whiff of that.

There were rights and wrongs associated with the Eurovegas project, some of the latter expressed by the Church. It may not have gone down the Deadly Sins line or even invoked The Tenth Commandment, but it is not exactly well disposed to gambling. One does have to wonder if the Church, and the ruling Partido Popular has sought to shift Spain back to more traditional Catholicism, might have been bending some ears at government level.

Even if it had, 30 billion dollars weren't to be sniffed at. Projects of such scale do not come along every day: 11 million tourists annually, most of them well-heeled you would think, 250,000 jobs. These are a lot to lose, though it had been argued that most of the jobs would have been low-paid. Maybe they would have been, but then jobs in the tourism industry tend to be low-paid; they are still jobs and they are still paid.

Las Vegas Sands may have sought to extract pounds of flesh, but one fancies there is more to the project truncation than this alone, and some of it will be on the government's side. The media will blame Sheldon Adelson and his alleged avarice, but has there been a different Deadly Sin at play? Pride perhaps.

** Kirby Anderson from https://bible.org/question/why-gambling-wrong

Photo sourced from "La Vanguardia".

Mariano's Ecclestone Moment: Eurovegas and smoking

As 2010 drew to a close, many were the nigh-apocalyptic predictions as to the effects of the Spanish smoking ban that was to be implemented at the start of 2011. Bars and restaurants were going to close in their hundreds or thousands, meaning that thousands more workers would be added to the ever-increasing unemployment figures and that civilised life in Spain would come to a halt. Once introduced, these nightmarish predictions continued, now supported by statistical evidence of declines in business for bars. Down 70%. Down this much, down that much. But since around the spring of 2011, we have heard very little about the effects of the smoking ban, the negative ones, that is. Bars may have closed, workers may have lost their jobs, but chances are that these closures and job losses were due to factors other than the punters being unable to smoke inside licensed premises. And where a bar has closed, for whatever reason, there never appears to be any shortage of someone else being willing to re-open it.

The smoking ban has made bars that much more pleasant. Previous law prohibiting smoking in offices and other places of work has made these that much more pleasant, too. Though inspectors find cases of the bans being flouted, and so issue their fines and announce the number of infractions that have been committed, there has been little by way of obvious resistance to the bans. But the law is still flouted.

I shall of course not identify the business, either its type or its name, but I was in one of its offices last week. On the wall was a large notice which stated that smoking was prohibited anywhere on the business's premises. Moreover, staff were also prohibited from going outside to have a smoke. In no uncertain terms, staff were told that they would face disciplinary procedures if they failed to adhere to these prohibitions. And what do you know? There was the unmistakable smell of cigarette smoke, both fresh and that repulsive stale variety as well. As I was reading this very clear and prominent notice, in walked some chap to converse with another chap. He was smoking.

Efforts there have been for the smoking bans to be reversed, especially the ban as it applies to bars. When I say efforts, these have amounted to no more than expressions by various groups, including some business associations, of a wish to go back to how things were. Their argument is that business and therefore the general economy would improve, were the ban to be lifted.

Though little evidence is given to back up this claim, there have been suspicions that the Partido Popular government (the one in Madrid as opposed to the regional one in Palma, which can't do anything about the bans in any event) might want to backtrack on the smoking ban. Mariano Rajoy, famously a cigar smoker and infamously once photographed with a substantial Havana in his chops at a time when Spain was at its lowest economic ebb, had, so it was suggested, implied that he might get the ban lifted. Rajoy continues to deny he ever implied such a thing. But, when big and new business hovers into view and it is big and new business that comes with multi-billion investment from the USA attached and it is big and new business that will bring jobs to the city that is the centre of the Rajoy government, i.e. Madrid, the prime minister is inclined to listen to the possibility of at least reducing the all-embracing nature of the ban in public places. It might only be one public place in which the ban would be lifted, but it would be a very substantial place. That place is Eurovegas.

Rajoy says that it is his job as prime minister to listen to people. It does rather depend, one supposes, on who these people are and so the closeness with which Mariano listens, but when one of these people is Sheldon Adelson, the big boss of the big Eurovegas project, you can bet your life that Mariano is listening intently. Think of all that money, Mariano, think of all those jobs, Mariano, think of all that they might mean in getting you re-elected as prime minister, Mariano.

The prime minister is denying there will be a relaxation in the ban, but Adelson and Madrid's regional president appear to believe there will be. And if there is, it would be far more of a cave-in than Blair's Bernie Ecclestone moment. It would also be a decision that would have all sorts of businesses clamouring for a total relaxation, and with justification. The smoking ban would otherwise be an act of hypocrisy.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.

Viva Eurovegas!

Sheldon Adelson is an extraordinarily wealthy man. Self-made, "Forbes" magazine ranked him as the sixteenth richest person in the world in 2011. Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Spain may finally be on the point of receiving some of his colossal wealth.

Adelson is the man behind Eurovegas. Originally intended to be located in Catalonia near to Barcelona, the location has shifted. Madrid is now likely to be the beneficiary of a project that would create a tourist and gambling resort in the style of Las Vegas. Barcelona has been ruled out because plans for enormous skyscrapers would have posed a safety risk, given that the site would have been close to El Prat airport. Madrid, it would seem, doesn't pose such a risk.

The figures for Eurovegas are impressive. It would comprise six casinos, twelve tourist complexes each with up to 3,000 hotel places, restaurants, museums, convention centres, attractions and no doubt other things. Its cost would be in the region of 17,000 million euros. It would create 260,000 jobs and would, when completely finished, attract 11 million tourists annually.

Adelson has yet to finally decide whether to go ahead, but Eurovegas is becoming more of a probability, its first phase to be completed by 2016 and the whole project to be finished by 2022. If the numbers stack up, you would think that politicians would be lining up to bite his hand off.

There are plenty of people of course who would argue with the figures. What they can't argue with is that Las Vegas Sands has been extremely successful in developing similar resorts in Las Vegas itself and also in Macao and Singapore. Opponents might argue that Mr. Adelson is inflating the figures, but the investment required would not seem to be a deterrent given investment elsewhere, while returns have been such that the Macao project realised a payback in its first year of operation. This is a serious businessman, whatever people might think of him.

It is what people think of him that might yet scupper Eurovegas. Adelson hasn't exactly escaped the attention of courts, including the Nevada Supreme Court, but he has fought allegations to the extent that the "Daily Mail" was forced to pay out four million pounds in damages for libel. Accusations that were levelled by "The Mail" have kind of been echoed in Spain. A judge, José Manuel Gómez Benítez, who is a senior figure with the General Council of the Judiciary, has said that Eurovegas would be a "source of corruption and mafia-style activities" and that it would be "difficult to control" (I quote from a report from the EFE news agency of 12 July this year.) Benítez's position was in contrast to that of the director of Catalonia's anti-fraud office who praised the Eurovegas project, not that this seems to have done much good as Barcelona has been given the boot.

Even without the controversies that have attached themselves to Mr. Adelson, Eurovegas has always been and will remain a highly controversial project. It is one, for example, that places the Partido Popular up against the church (and Madrid is run by the PP with former prime minister Aznar's wife in charge). The church charity Caritas has been one of the most outspoken critics of the probably doomed Gran Scala project near Zaragoza. Yet for all that the church might disagree with gambling, the Spanish are one of the most gambling obsessed people in Europe, largely, one presumes, because of the vast amounts that are spent on lotteries.

But Eurovegas would be less a project for Spanish visitors than it would be for tourists from overseas: from European countries, from Russia (which might just set some alarm bells going) as well possibly from the Middle East and even China given that Chinese tourism to Spain is expected to increase significantly. And tourism from the US couldn't presumably also be ruled out.

The project would clearly stand or fall on its ability to generate the number of visitors being spoken about, but who's to say that it wouldn't. One doesn't know how the annual eleven million is arrived at, but it would be stupid to believe that an operation as successful as Las Vegas Sands doesn't have a sound idea as to the numbers.

There's a long way to go yet for Eurovegas and it will be the subject of intense debate, but one thing it has going for it is that in Madrid it probably won't be faced with a xenophobic attitude to foreign investment. Imagine what would happen in Mallorca, where the garlic and crosses would be brandished at the very mention of such a project.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.