Spain’s Vegas-style gamble

Los Monegros has many things in common with the Nevada desert: it’s dry and vacant. This land is also poised to change. This is a promotional video which projects slick hotels and casinos, a golf course, shopping centers, theaters and amusement parks. This London development organization manager says Los Monegros is the perfect place for such development because there’s nothing there. He says up to 25 million people could visit it a year once open and that creates jobs, between 50-60,000 direct jobs and the tax revenue could be around $9 million dollars a year. Sounds irresistible for a region that has little industry or people. Ask locals say that the development looks like a life saver. One young man says the more jobs the better. Citizens groups fear crime and corruption could arrive with the development of gambling halls. They say the government has promised too much. Most are most concerned with the water park. This man says the park could gobble up the region’s water and take it away from farmers. he says the developers would need 25% more water than there is in the region. The developer says that’s not so and the development would be efficient. But the fact is Spain is suffering from a bad drought. Beginning this summer Barcelona will need water shipped in. one region in Spain has declared a water emergency. Campaigns have started to stop the development. One man says the project is unsustainable and intolerable.