In the coming months, a historic event is about to take place in Santiago de Compostela. The capital of the Autonomous Community of Galicia will have the first casino in the entire history of its territory if nothing prevents it. Comar group With the Eixample of Compostela, it has come very close to achieving what it has longed for for several years: a playroom that offers fun and entertainment in the most populated part of the city.
The chosen venue is one of the ground floors of the Gran Hotel Araguaney, located at the crossroads between Alfredo Bañas and Montero Ríos streets. In the form of a place of chance, the site of the old nightclub Cásting is revived, which delighted the residents of Compostela in the 1990s and closed with the arrival of the 2000s.
Until now, Santiago has not been an option for starting such a company as the Gambling and Betting Act of 1985 prevented Galicia from having more than one active casino per province. Casino Atlántico de A Coruña has already achieved this rate in the region, however the standard was revised in 2016 so this would change. And since then Comar has been trying to become the candidate for the management of a new and future casino.
The factory got to work in 2023 to tackle the opening of the new leisure center in the summer months, in the middle of the high season. Of course if you do This is done as an annex to the Coruña Atlantic. This means that it functions as an ancillary and supplementary room, which entails certain limitations in its nature.
The trick is that you have to adopt the same opening and closing times as your regular casino (from 10am to 4am from Sunday to Thursday and from 10am to 5am on Friday, Saturday and the eve of public holidays ). ), It must not exceed 80% of its area (that would be a maximum of about 2,200 square meters, although the chosen establishment has only about 700 square meters) and must comply with the regulations that no educational center can be less than 150 meters away ( The IES Rosalía de Castro is the closest and is over 200 km away.
Therefore, it is expected that the offer of the new hall will also be very similar to that in the Jardines de Méndez Núñez in the city of Hercules. These include roulette and blackjack gaming tables, slot machines, slot machines, sports betting, poker games, sweepstakes and a variety of events, as well as a snack and gastro bar, outdoor terrace and entertainment area. However, it must be taken into account that the dimensions will not be the same, so some of these rooms will not be built.
Grupo Comar has already made several attempts to open a new casino in Santiago, but these have been rejected by the local government on the grounds that the buildings chosen by the company did not have proper planning permission. However, according to various local and regional media, the Compostela City Council will not have an easy time obstructing the project on this occasion, since The signs of the consistory’s rejection of this movement were public and repeated.
Obtaining the license will not be easy
Xosé Sánchez, Mayor of Santiago, was very clear from the first minute about the refusal to open a new casino in the city. And that means that all relevant documentation for the license approval must be in perfect order for the arcade to come into existence.
In February of this year, Comar made the relevant advance notification to the Santiago City Council to start work in Araguaney, since this procedure is no longer the responsibility of the city administration. The reform works had to be noticeable in the light of citizens and passers-by passing through the area.
The next step was for the Xunta to approve the application to license and operate the casino. However, Due to various defects, everything is paralyzed notified by the local authority, who have finally found the loophole that appears to allow them to influence decisions regarding the space.
These shortcomings include the absence of some documents necessary for the proper execution of the work and the inclusion of a basement in the site plans, which was not foreseen from the outset. This sends Comar back to the starting box, who must resolve these issues and bring the idea back to the City Council.
If all goes well with the new business model, the urban planning area would have no choice but to accept it, and it would be the power of the regional executive to give final opening approval. But all of this points to it It will have long running times and therefore it will be difficult for the casino to be available in the summer.
Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Grupo Comar has 9 casinos in Spain (including Casino Gran Vía, Gran Casino Aranjuez and Gran Casino Sardinero) and another 14 abroad, as well as 8 bingos, 18 arcades and 2,500 slot machine operators that serve the company since its inception in 1984. That means it’s not a newcomer to the industry and won’t give up anytime soon.
Santiago de Compostela currently has up to three betting shops, a bingo hall and a casino café. But in the near future it wants to open a new casino for the pleasure of its players.
