(Use of English: pt 1 multiple-choice) Spain's two great rival cities, Barcelona and Madrid, are competing to attract a mega casino project dubbed "Eurovegas" planned by US multi-billionaire mogul Sheldon Adelson.
The contest to 1. over the 14th richest man in the world has become a casino version of the El Clasico derby that Spaniards are more used to witnessing on the football 2.. Barcelona, the Catalan capital, has beaches and a port where cruise ships dock on a daily 3.. Madrid, the national capital, has the bigger, and better-connected, airport. read on With Spain's unemployment standing at 23%, Ignacio Fernandez, the Spanish capital's tourism boss, openly admits that the casino project's job-creation potential is its "biggest attraction" and makes it something "politicians have to get for their country".
The main sticking point 4. negotiations between Spanish politicians and Mr Adelson is a list of conditions which, according to Madrid's tourism authority, the American businessman has given in order to agree to invest in Spain. It says Mr Adelson is 5. about the level of social security he would have to pay his workers; he would also like immigration laws to be relaxed so it would be easier for him to 6. some workers in from abroad.
Mr Adelson's company insists it has not made its investment dependent on a list of conditions, describing its talks with the Spanish government as "positive". But reports have 7. to criticism, particularly from politicians on the left, that the resort would become a low-tax haven.
Catalan President Artur Mas admits his region has always been behind Madrid in the race, but he believes in recent weeks Barcelona has been "8. up". As one of his officials points 9., Barcelona has the sea and is a "much cooler" city. But politicians in the Spanish capital have been working on Mr Adelson for much longer.
However, Eurovegas would potentially pull in a new market of thousands of tourists, generating significant revenue. Sheldon Adelson's visits to Spain, most recently to Barcelona, suggest he is 10. about the project. And he does not seem to have been put off by the eurozone crisis. He told Forbes' magazine that the project would take four to five years to build, by which time he believes "everything will be solved".
From what officials in Madrid and Barcelona are saying, the economic potential of the project means it is a gamble either city is willing to 11.. First 12., they need the consent of Spain's national government.
Spain's two great rival cities, Barcelona and Madrid, are competing to attract a mega casino project dubbed "Eurovegas" planned by US multi-billionaire mogul Sheldon Adelson.
