New Spanish casino scheduled to open next month

Austrian gaming giant Novomatic has announced that its new Casino Admiral San Roque in southern Spain could be open by the end of July offering a selection of over 100 slots alongside eight gaming tables.

Located in the town of San Roque some seven miles north of Gibraltar, the Andalucian venue was closed by previous operator Groupe Partouche in 2010 with the loss of 40 jobs before being purchased by casino operator Admiral, which is a subsidiary of Gumpoldskirchen-based Novomatic, in 2014.

Admiral revealed that it is spending upwards of $5 million on the first renovation phase of a three-step and $22 million development project for the 42,000 sq ft property, which will soon also offer a 500-seat bingo hall. The operator revealed that future plans call for the construction of over 100 hotel rooms as well as a cinema, shops, nightclub and spa on the site.

“Work on the first phase of development is scheduled to end in June and then the machinery, furniture and other equipment will be fitted,” Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, mayor for San Roque, told Spanish-language news site EuropaSur.es. “The casino is scheduled to open in the last week of July.”

The announcement follows the opening in mid-May of the nearby Casino Admiral Gibraltar while the new Casino Admiral San Roque is set to additionally feature a multi-purpose function room alongside an international buffet and a trio of bars with one serving traditional Andalucian tapas dishes.

“I hope we have more luck than in the past and that this casino stays running for a long time,” said Ruiz Boix. “As it stands, Novomatic is the fourth largest gaming operator in the world and is making remarkable improvements while adding new activities such as bingo. Our hope is that the second phase of construction will attract still more visitors and that several generations will use these facilities for leisure, which will provide employment for several generations of people in the municipality.”