Casinos Are Bringing New Life to Madrid
賭場為馬德里帶來生機
By Raphael Minder

MADRID – Even though Sheldon G. Adelson, the American billionaire casino magnate, abandoned his plans for a $30 billion casino and leisure resort on the outskirts of Madrid, he has nevertheless helped get the roulette wheels spinning here for the first time in almost a century.
美國億萬富豪賭場大亨艾德森原有意在馬德里市郊投資300億美元興建賭場休閒中心，計畫雖然放棄了，卻仍然使消失近百年的輪盤賭再現馬德里。

In mid-December, Mr. Adelson dropped plans to build a resort with six casinos, known as EuroVegas, after the Spanish government refused to accept his demands for financial concessions. Just days later, two small casinos opened in central Madrid, operated by Spanish companies that applied for new licenses in the wake of the EuroVegas plan.
去年12月中旬，艾德森因西班牙政府拒絕接受他的租稅優惠要求，放棄了興建共有六座賭場的休閒中心─歐洲維加斯的計畫。沒隔幾天，馬德里市中心就有兩家西班牙業者經營的小型賭場開張，都是在歐洲維加斯之後才申請新設賭場執照。

“The arrival of a giant like EuroVegas meant that we had to do something and couldn’t just stand still,” said Pedro Olmedo Franco, a director of the Casino Gran Madrid, one of Madrid’s two new casinos. Without the EuroVegas project, he added, “we probably wouldn’t be here now.”
大馬德里賭場是兩家新賭場之一，董事歐梅多說，「像歐洲維加斯這種大咖會來，表示我們必須有所作為，不能只按兵不動。」他又說，要是沒有歐洲維加斯計畫，「我們現在大概不會來。」

Unlike some other Spanish cities, Madrid had a longstanding ban on any casino operating within a 30-kilometer radius of the city center. But it was effectively lifted when its authorities started to compete against Barcelona to lure Mr. Adelson, who had decided to locate his project in Spain. Under pressure from Spanish operators concerned about unfair competition from EuroVegas, Madrid decided to also grant two other licenses for smaller Spanish rivals to open casinos in the heart of the city.
馬德里與其他西班牙城市不同，長期以來禁止在市中心30公里方圓之內開設賭場。但當艾德森決定把投資計畫落腳在西班牙時，馬德里當局為與巴塞隆納爭逐這計畫而解除了禁令。西班牙賭場業者生怕受到歐洲維加斯的不公平競爭而向當局施壓，馬德里政府遂決定也對兩家西班牙較小型的業者核發執照，允許他們在市中心開業。

Spain still faces considerable economic challenges, including a 26 percent unemployment rate. But the casino revival has also made a contribution to Madrid on the jobs front. Gran Vía created 270 new jobs while Gran Madrid created 200 jobs, in addition to relocating 250 existing staff members to Madrid.
西班牙仍面對頗大的經濟挑戰，包括失業率高達26%。賭場重現也對馬德里的就業問題有所貢獻。格蘭比亞賭場創造了270個新工作，大馬德里賭場除將原有的250名員工調來馬德里外，並另創200個職缺。

“Croupier is certainly not what I expected to become, but it’s proving an exciting opportunity,” said Valeria García, 21, who has been completing a history degree.
今年21歲、在大學讀歷史系的瓦蕾莉亞．賈西亞說：「我當然沒想到會當賭桌助手（荷官），但事實證明這的確是個令人興奮的機會。」

Ms. García oversees a roulette table for six hours an evening. Croupiers like her earn €1,500 a month to start, with pay rising to about €2,400 including tips.
賈西亞每晚監看一張輪盤桌六小時。像他這樣的荷官起薪每月1500歐元，連同小費大概能拿到2400歐元。

With Spanish consumption still in the doldrums, Madrid’s new casinos have been targeting foreign tourists. Last year, Spain welcomed a record 60.6 million tourists, even though the number of people visiting Madrid fell about 5 percent to 4.2 million.
由於西班牙消費仍然低迷，馬德里的新賭場便瞄準外國觀光客。去年前來西班牙的觀光客創下6060萬人次的紀錄，不過馬德里的來客卻減少了5%，為420萬人次。

Before last month’s opening, Grupo Gran Madrid already owned three other casinos in Spain, with combined revenue of €28 million, or roughly $38 million. Madrid’s other new venue, Casino Gran Vía, is owned by Grupo Comar, which has several casinos across Spain and the Dominican Republic, which generated combined revenues of about €110 million last year.
大馬德里集團上個月新賭場開張之前，在西班牙其他地方已擁有三處賭場，去年總營收2800萬歐元，約合3800萬美元。另一家格蘭比亞賭場屬科瑪集團所有，在全西班牙及多明尼加開設多處賭場，去年總營收約1.1億歐元。

Javier García of Grupo Comar, said he was “very satisfied” with the debut of Gran Vía. The casino has recently averaged 1,500 visitors a day. Mr. García forecast a profit for this year, without providing specifics.
科瑪集團的賈昔亞表示，他對格蘭比亞能夠開張「非常滿意」。這家賭場最近每天平均來客1500人次。他預估今年能有盈餘，但未提供具體數字。

Despite Spain’s recent economic problems, the two casinos are filling a clear gap in Madrid, said Miguel Córdoba Bueno, a professor of applied mathematics. Mr. Adelson’s initial choice of Madrid, he contended, shows that it is “by some margin the most attractive city to set up a casino.”
應用數學教授葛多巴表示，儘管西班牙經濟近來仍有問題，但兩家新賭場顯然對馬德里不無小補。他說，艾德森當初會選中馬德里，證明這裡「開設賭場吸引力遠大於其他城市。」

Mr. Adelson’s company decided to drop EuroVegas just as other foreign investors have started to return to Spain. They had exited two years ago, when the country was plunged into a banking crisis. Since then, the banking sector has received an international bailout and the economy emerged from a two-year recession.
艾德森的公司決定放棄歐洲維加斯計畫之際，也正是其他外國投資人開始重返西班牙之時。兩年前西班牙陷入銀行危機，外資紛紛出走。之後銀行業獲得國際紓困，經濟也已走出歷時兩年的衰退。

Mr. Adelson’s EuroVegas would have provided formidable competition for smaller Spanish operators. On the other hand, the Spanish companies anticipated EuroVegas would help bolster the gambling sector as a whole and raise its international profile.
艾德森的歐洲維加斯計畫若未放棄，會使西班牙各小型賭場面對可怕的競爭。而從一方面看，西班牙業者又預期歐洲維加斯能帶動本國整個賭場業，並提升它在國際賭界的地位。

They also hoped to benefit from the same tax concessions that Mr. Adelson wanted to obtain for EuroVegas. The Madrid casinos want the authorities to cut the gambling tax to 20 percent from the current 45 percent. Ángel Ruiz de Apodaca of the University of Navarra struck down the casinos’ chances of winning major concessions.
本國業者也想得到艾德森為歐洲維加斯爭取的減稅優惠。馬德里的賭場要求當局把賭博稅率從目前的45%降到20%。拿瓦拉大學學者狄阿波達加卻認為業者難獲重大優惠。

“Mr. Adelson didn’t get the treatment that he wanted, so I don’t think that any special deal or fiscal advantages will be seen as acceptable for the new casinos either,” he said.
他說，「艾德森並未得到他想要的待遇，所以我不認為政府會接受新賭場的要求，給他們任何特殊待遇或租稅優惠。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/business/international/failed-eurovegas-bid-was-still-a-boon-for-spanish-casinos.html

2014-02-25聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 任中原譯 原文參見紐時週報八版下