From 0 euros to 50 million: the price of cancelling the Hard Rock
The Government of Aragon claimed that the Generalitat was exposed to multimillion-dollar compensations, but a report from the executive itself reduced this figure
BarcelonaNew controversy over the Hard Rock complex in Camp de Tarragona. This time, the dispute revolves around the amount that the Government should pay if it stops the macro-project. At the beginning of the year, The Country The report echoed a document from the ERC Government that estimated the compensation that would have to be paid in the event of cancellation at up to 50 million euros. The CUP requested this report from the legal office of the PSC Government, but the document sent to them by the Ministry of Economy does not include this figure – it was in an annex that they have not sent to the anti-capitalist party. Furthermore, in the report, the legal office sets out various ways available to the Generalitat to disassociate itself from the project without having to pay anything or, in any case, having to pay much smaller compensations. What would be the price of cancelling the Hard Rock? From 0 to 50 million, according to the executive itself, depending on how it is interpreted judicially.
According to various sources consulted, the figures published by the CUP are 50 million euros, according to the executive itself, depending on how it is interpreted judicially. The Country The reports came from a document that quantified how much money investors could ask for if the Generalitat backed out, but without determining which claims could be legally successful. The figure of 50 million included both consequential damages and lost profits, that is, the worst-case scenario for the Generalitat. However, the report made public on Tuesday –assessed by the Government's legal services– completely rules out the possibility of claims for lost profits (in other words, lost profits) and limits possible compensation to expenses incurred by the promoters since they received the casino license (but not before, to prepare the public tender).
Beyond figures, the report evaluates the scenarios in which the Generalitat could find itself depending on whether it decides not to approve the urban master plan –pending an environmental report for almost two years– or to approve it and veto the installation of a casino. The final amount would depend on the actual expenses that the project promoters could prove, as the ARA also explained at the time. The only certain amount that should be returned – which does not count as compensation – are the deposits of 2.5 and 10 million euros that Hard Rock deposited at the time.
The report also gives details of what the Republican Generalitat could have done to get rid of the project at a cost of zero euros to the public coffers. To begin with, it states that the Government could have revoked the executive council agreement that authorized Incasòl to act as intermediary in the purchase and sale of the land for 120 million euros to CriteriaCaixa in order to sell it, for the same price, to the promoters of Hard Rock. In addition, it notes that the purchase option contract in favor of Incasol expired in 2017, so CriteriaCaixa would not be obliged to sell it, and it questions the legal role of the entity in the operation. "Given the nature of Incasol as an instrumental entity, the current Government agreement could be left without effect, in application of a new political orientation in relation to this issue, or also in response to a possible negative report issued by the General Directorate of Environmental Policies," says the document. Another option that the legal office envisaged was for the Government to approve the urban master plan, but then revoke the casino's license. It could do so by appealing to "general interests", although in this case it would have to pay compensation.
The clash of the previous legislature
The ERC Government requested this report in September 2023 and received it on November 3 of that same year. At that time, and as sources from the Commons explained at the time, its leader, Jéssica Albiach, had already informed President Pere Aragonès that they would place the veto on the Hard Rock as a condition for negotiating the budgets. The Aragonés Government proclaimed with great fanfare that stopping the Hard Rock exposed the Generalitat to million-dollar compensations. "Any other option that would be to back out of the project would entail compensation for lost profits of hundreds of thousands of euros," said the then president Pere Aragonès in the Parliament, already in March 2023. The data consulted by The Country The lack of agreement between PSC, ERC and the Commons to find a consensus solution at the Hard Rock blew up the budgets and, in turn, will lead to a total collapse of the budgets. to precipitate the calling of early elections the previous legislature. After the elections, and in the negotiations to invest Salvador Illa, the three parties found a landing strip in the understanding: to repeal the tax privilege for the Hard Rock, already knocked down.
In any case, the CUP has already requested the appearance of the former president Aragonès and his ministers of Economy and Territory, Natàlia Mas and Ester Capella. Also that of the current minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, and the minister of Economy, Alícia Romero. Sources from the previous ERC Government consulted by the ARA emphasize that one thing is the forecast that the Generalitat can make and another thing is what a judge ends up deciding later. And, in any case, they remember that even then there was a majority in the Parliament in favor of the project –of which ERC was not part–. One of the parties that supports and supported is Junts, which on Tuesday once again regretted the tax reform that complicates the landing of the tourist complex in the Camp de Tarragona. On the other hand, the spokesperson for Junts in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, was convinced that the former director of Incasol Damià Calvet will give "the explanations that are necessary" about his management of the Hard Rock, as the commons have already asked him.
What does Isla's Government say?
As for the Government, this Tuesday it has avoided evaluating the legal report. The spokesperson, Silvia Paneque, considered it "hasty" to talk about compensation and insisted that once the tax changes have been made, it will be up to the company to decide whether it wants to go ahead with the macro-casino or not. Regarding the fact that the CUP did not receive the annexes of the report, in which the possible compensations that the Government should pay were specified, Paneque has defended that the Economy has provided the information that the CUP have requested. "Nothing has been hidden [...] The report was requested and that report was given," she assured. The Executive's thesis is that the CUP could have asked for the documentary references that are specified in the report.
