Hard Rock International has been given the go ahead to move forward with its E2bn integrated resort project in Tarragona province.
Catalonia’s government has given Hard Rock International the green light to proceed with its integrated resort project in the autonomous community.
In late May, the official gazette of the Catalan Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it had granted formal approval for the €2bn Hard Rock Entertainment World project near Vila-seca and Salou in Tarragona province.
The notice gives Hard Rock a window of three years in which to open the resort’s €700m first phase, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tarragona, once the company submits a €10m deposit and secures the necessary building permits.
This figure includes the €3m guarantee that Hard Rick paid in order to participate in the tender for the project, which was previously known as BCN World.
The Generalitat has suggested that construction will commence before June 2019, while the full project is expected to be complete within five years and will create an estimated 2,176 jobs within a further five years of opening.
Developed in conjunction with PortAventura World, the first phase of the development will feature a 500-room family-orientated hotel, along with a 10,000sqm shopping centre developed in partnership with Value Retail offering 75 luxury stores, and a concert space with the capacity for 15,000 people.
The property’s casino will be among the largest in Europe and will include 1,200 slots and 100 gaming tables.
In light of the ongoing political uncertainty in Catalonia, commentators had expressed doubts about the project’s future.
Despite this, speaking to International Casino Review in April, Hard Rock reaffirmed its commitment to the Hard Rock Entertainment World development.
“Hard Rock is 100 percent committed to working with the Government according to the process outlined in the Tender to move the Hard Rock Entertainment World project forward in Tarragona,” Erin Owens, a media representative for the company.
The mayors of Salou and Vila-seca, where the complex will be located, welcomed the news that Hard Rock Entertainment World had been given the go ahead.
“Salou will become a benchmark of the Hard Rock brand worldwide; the embryo of Orlando in Europe has now been born,” said the mayor of the municipality, Pere Granados.
Meanwhile, Josep Poblet, mayor of Vila-seca thanked the Generalitat for its efforts in pushing the project forward despite “the difficulties the country is experiencing”.
