Comment from Stuart
Time: December 31, 2007, 12:03 am

There are dozens of soft-horror movies and games that have the same impersonal female corporate voice, used by an evil fictional company that ends up destroying the world in its greed. The voice is scary!

Comment from Gary
Time: December 31, 2007, 11:00 am

Hmmm… I never understood why they put Eurosisney in grey, rainy Paris. They have obviously decided to go one better. I have no idea why anyone would visit but having said thay Ive been to Alton Towers a couple of times.

How many casinos?

Why is it that al this crap has to be wrapped up in a culture/history skin?

A great place for 18-30s holidays - mainly cos I wont be there

Comment from Elena
Time: December 31, 2007, 11:08 am

(Hi, Aragonese here)

Frankly, it beats me. To my best knowledge, it seems that it was negotiated by the PAR (Partido Aragonés Regionalista, is governing Aragon with the PSOE) without anyone else knowing, and then they dropped the bomb on the public.

Apart from the few people who are expecting to sell their land for the theme parks or get a construction deal, most people are more wary than enthusiastic about the project. Then again, most theme parks in Spain are not doing that great (Isla Mágica anyone? Terra Mítica? The Warner park near Madrid?). My personal guess is that they’ll build one or two parks, maybe some casinos, then they’ll be a total failure and we’ll have some weird Ozymandias-like ruins in the desert.

That is, in the remote case that the investors don’t change their minds and take the project somewhere else. It’s all so very tentative by now. *Shrug*

Comment from Elena
Time: December 31, 2007, 11:11 am

(Oh, and there’s the delightful irony of the Expo 2008 being all about desarrollo sostenible and the rational use of water, but don’t get me started on that)

Comment from Edith
Time: December 31, 2007, 12:34 pm

I understand why many Native American tribes have started their own casinos - for some, it has become a way out of their poverty - but why is Aragon doing the same? As far as I’m concerned, these gambling emporiums are a blot on the landscape! And gambling is such a waste of time, anyway… unless you’re one of the lucky few, of course.

Comment from Ben
Time: December 31, 2007, 2:29 pm

@Elena - “the delightful irony of the Expo 2008 being all about desarrollo sostenible and the rational use of water” - you are right, I forgot about that!

@Edith - “gambling is such a waste of time” - right, and the biggest rip-off on the planet. Why don’t people get it - Casinos make sure everyone looses in the end!

Comment from Andrew
Time: December 31, 2007, 2:52 pm

I have an urge to find something wrong with this plan but as much as I try I can’t. I admire their ambition and although I wouldn’t visit it, I hope they succeed. I’ve been to Zaragoza a couple of times and been totally underwhelmed, it seems to me that this region needs something (anything) to liven it up. Apart from the lottery, I’ve never thought of Spaniards as being big gamblers so I assume this isn’t solely aimed at them but at other Europeans wanting a slice of Las Vegas on their doorstep. Statistically casino gambling might not be a great financial investment but if it offers someone a bit of fun and the hope of winning big then good luck to them.

Comment from Ben
Time: December 31, 2007, 3:13 pm

@Andrew, you may have been underwhelmed by Zaragoza, but the casino isn’t going to be Zaragoza, it’s going to ruin some nearby countryside. And frankly, if you went to the Arogonese Pyrenees, you would be anything but underwhelmed by the region! As for winning big in casinos… no comment.

Comment from Mrmark
Time: December 31, 2007, 3:40 pm

Seems to me that Las Vegas does quite well in a capitalist world. Maybe Aragon saw a chance to actually succeed in today’s imperfect world (perhaps lure some holidaymakers away from Benidorm), and at least it’ll be far away from the awesome Pyrenees. Just like Las Vegas, I’d never be tempted to come here, but hey there are places like Blackpool or Monte Carlo that also have zero appeal for me. Each to their own.

Comment from Parubin
Time: December 31, 2007, 5:05 pm

I’m going to stick up for the mega-casino project. Don´t get me wrong, I still don´t know if it’s a good idea or even if it is financially feasible, but since everyone is rating on about it, I feel like giving the other view.

The complex, is supposed to be built on the ‘Monegros Desert’, not very far away from Zaragoza. As huge as it is, I heard that the whole of the surface to be developed equals only 1% of the whole of the Monegros.

Of course it is going to be an artificial monstrosity, and what’s wrong with that?. I’ve been to Las Vegas, Shanghai and Dubai, perhaps the three biggest artificial monstrousities on earth, and I found them as interesting as Paris, Viena or London in their own peculiar way, of course, and I suppose in the future they will be regaded as the legacy of todays capitalist mentality.

Of course casinos are not meant for compulsive mentalities, neither is alcohol, and you have to be stupid to think of casinos as an investment chance. They are just a place to have fun. Not everyday, not even every year, maybe, but if you go to Las Vegas, with a possitive attitude towards gambling, appart from losing some money (you lose what you want to lose) I can assure you that you are gonna have a hell of a good time. That’s what’s about, having fun in a non intelectual manner.

The whole complex is suppose to create no less than 65.000 new jobs.

As I said before, I don´t trust the feasibility for investors, but if it is, not everything has to be so bad.

Comment from Gary
Time: December 31, 2007, 6:05 pm

On the up side there will probably be an airport attached with a good road and maybe even rail network to get those of us with no interest in gambling off somewhere else…

Comment from Ryan
Time: January 8, 2008, 6:47 pm

It makes me sick…I’m for a developement project, but if they ever finish this, I doubt it will be full or fully realized. In the end, I agree that we’ll have a half finished complex that becomes a sidenote on the drive though Zaragoza