Tenerife Council Plans Sale of Three Profitable Casinos

The Tenerife Island Council is once again planning to sell the island's three casinos, which it owns. This decision comes even though these gaming centers are making good money and are valuable assets. Reports indicate that selling the Taoro, Santa Cruz, and Playa de Las Américas casinos is a key goal in the island's budget for the coming year.

The Council's reasoning is that managing casinos isn't an essential public service, a point repeated by Lope Afonso, the first vice-president and island councillor for Tourism. However, Afonso also stressed how well Tenerife's casinos are doing right now. He highlighted their strong assets, operations, and community impact, which is clear in their approved budgets showing steady growth in income, profits, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).

For the next financial year, the casinos are expected to bring in over 18 million euros in total revenue, similar to what's predicted for 2025. This isn't the first time the Council has tried to privatize them. An attempt in 2018, led by then-president Carlos Alonso, failed because the only interested company couldn't meet the requirements, so the sale was cancelled. Back then, the casinos were valued at around 25 million euros. Today, that figure is estimated to have potentially doubled.

Even with plans to sell, major investments are set to modernize the gaming machines and introduce new management and control software at the Santa Cruz and Taoro casinos. The Santa Cruz Casino, located on the ground floor of the Hotel Mencey, is expected to earn 3.1 million euros, a 21.5% jump from the previous year, and make a profit of just over 30,000 euros. This growth is thanks to more activity at its machines and tables, and new areas being added.

The Taoro Casino, the oldest in the network and located in Puerto de la Cruz, is forecast to bring in nearly 7.5 million euros, a 16.3% increase from this year, with a profit of 2.6 million. Meanwhile, the Playa de Las Américas Casino, situated in the Hotel H10 Gran Tenerife, is expected to generate the most revenue, almost 7.6 million euros – up 13.4% from the current financial year – and an estimated profit of 1.6 million euros. This growth comes from modernizing its facilities and improving how it operates.

Overall, the island's casinos plan to at least match their 2024 earnings, attract more visitors, and strengthen their profits by upgrading their facilities and management systems. The Island Council intends to replace older machines, improve the gaming areas, and introduce new management software to make the casinos more appealing and run more smoothly. The Santa Cruz Casino is also set to become a multi-purpose venue, hosting sports, economic, and cultural events and conferences.

Lope Afonso stressed that even though casinos aren't seen as essential, they are valuable assets because they pay dividends to the Island Council. This money helps support public services on the island and makes the casinos more attractive for a future sale. He also praised the "great work" done in negotiations with employee representatives, which has brought much-needed stability to all three companies.