When the Casino de Tarragona opens its doors later this week, the doors slam shut on the Casino Lloret de Mar in Girona. Last December work began to transform a wing of the Imperial Hotel Tarraco into a new casino and Grup Peralada will transfer its rather unprofitable casino operation from Lloret de Mar. The move has brought opposition from both sites, Lloret anxious to maintain its casino employer and many in Tarragona are opposed to a casino in the centre of the city.

On Thursday, 6 October, the public will be able to see for themselves the result of the €9.3 million (US$11 million) investment by Peralada in its new casino. The official launch will be two weeks later on 20 October, when the first bets will be taken. The casino covers two floors of the elegant Imperial Hotel and will have 13 gaming tables and 73 slot machines. The decision to move to Tarragona was made to give equilibrium to Peralada’s casino operations in the north and south of Catalunya. Casino Castell de Peralada is sited at a 14th Century castle in Peralada, a small medieval town in north-east Spain, and the Casino de Barcelona is in the exclusive Port Olímpic area of the city.

Casino de Tarragona will employ 125, with 50 croupiers trained locally. A full programme of entertainment will complement the casino facilities, just as at the other Peralada venues. Before the Tarragona casino opens for bets, the company has planned a series of concerts and other activities. The Quixote Rally departs from the Rambla Nova district of Tarragona on 17 October and the previous day there will be a chance to see a display of historic Hispano-Suiza vehicles belonging to Grup Peralada. A cocktail party, to launch the casino on 20 October, will see the symbolic first spin of a roulette wheel. (E-10.03.05)

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