Las Vegas, the famous millionaire bingo reopens

• Chabelita.Alberto Isla says goodbye to Las Vegas bingo

One of the evidences that this pandemic has left us is that people in Spain get their nails done as soon as they hit the bars. It was to reopen the terraces and the uproar in the streets was instantly over: there is no greater stress-relief - and better cement for social cohesion, by the way - than to allow the staff a morning of photosynthesis in the company of half a sandwich and a slice. Now, recovering the bars does not solve the problem: our collective recreation needs other entertainments - the beaches, the discotheques ... - and that is where bingo, one of the pillars of our democracy, also has a preferential place .

Does anyone imagine Spain without bingos? Foolishly, the stores have been closed for more than three months and will finally be able to reopen starting this Monday. "It was very difficult to get authorization from the Community of Madrid," explains Begoña Sierra, the founder and owner of the largest venue in the capital - and in all of Europe -, the famous Las Vegas bingo , located in Ciudad Lineal. "People haven't stopped contacting us through social media to ask when we would reopen." And is that bingo is in principle a gaming venue, but not exclusively: it is also a social gathering center, a kind of indoor amusement park in which there is no difference between throwing a cardboard or ordering a soft drink.

"A lot of young people come to our room , " says Begoña. "Of course, there are older people, I also have an audience that has been with me for 40 years, but on weekends young people come because the room is fun, there are celebrities ...". Before the confinement, Las Vegas was one of the most lively spaces in Madrid, and it was common to see there - alternating, rather than playing - Jorge Javier Vázquez and his troop of tertulianos from 'Sálvame', the cast of 'La que se avecina '- "a chapter was recorded at bingo," recalls Begoña-, or even Andy and Lucas with their respective mothers . "Over time we have become friends with everyone, they call me, they send me WhatsApps, photos, songs, everything ... For many celebrities I am almost like a confessor."

Begoña started running a bingo in 1983 with her husband. Before that, she worked in the office of some important Transition politicians. "We tried, and at first it was very difficult. The game belonged to the Civil Government and it had to be shown that you had no criminal record, it was difficult to obtain the license. But it worked, and when the game became the responsibility of the Community of Madrid, it was easier. " Her first store, in the downtown area, worked very well. "There was a line to enter from five in the afternoon, but it was smaller, we only had 250 seats. It was a lot of fun, we even danced the yenka at the end of the day." In 1997 it changed rooms and multiplied the capacity, up to the 1,500 seats available to Las Vegas , and consolidated itself as the nerve center of Ciudad Lineal.

"All the people in the neighborhood pass through here," he continues. "Friends come to snack and weddings before dinner." One of Las Vegas' successes is its sparkling setting with strong lights, marbles and lots of glass, but also its fame as an unpredictable place - in which, suddenly, your close friend Kiko Hernández , who he met even before , may appear. of entering the house of 'Big Brother'- as well as generous in the distribution of prizes. Playing a card costs two euros; the prize can go up to 4,000. For bingo it is not a bicoca because "they crunch us on taxes", but it does not cost loyalty to people.

And the confinement, then, ruined everything. The more than 80 employees that bingo had had to go home and Begoña has had to move strings so that they do not run out of pay. "I have people who have been with me for more than 20 years, they are fixed positions. And the first month I was able to pay it, but for the next two months I had to ask for a loan to pay them money, because if they didn't they couldn't bring food to their homes. They haven't paid ERTEs yet, and they haven't forgiven us any payments . " The situation, says Begoña, has caused her deep sadness, to the point of considering whether or not she wanted to reopen the business, which her son currently runs. When she saw the light at the end of the tunnel, her spirits improved, but she did not overcome her disgust.

Begoña defends bingo, as a business, as a nerve center of neighborhood life, because it multiplies the economic activity related to hospitality: bingo buys supplies in large quantities daily - bread, drinks, meat - and attracts many people who can occupy several of their leisure hours in it. "For the price of ten cartons you spend a couple of hours, we invite you to a beer and we have a snack," he says. "What we do not want are neither sports bets nor minors. We take this to the letter with the Community. I think we are the only room in Madrid that does not accept bets, it is one thing to play 20 euros at bingo and another to bet 1,000. Where does that money come from? What if a boy stole his mother's purse? "

She prefers to conceive the venue as a social gathering center, where even electronic dance music sessions have been held -the famous Chilean DJ Luciano , one of the kings of Ibiza, has played at bingo-, end-of-year saraos or Private parties like the annual Survivors program. "It was done here until Kiko Matamoros took her to his disco ... but people would run away and come to bingo. 'It's just that we had more fun here,' they told me." The return to normality will be slow, with a 50% capacity and an absence: the star Rosa Valenty, who worked in the room as an entertainer and who took over from Paco Cecilio, has decided to retire. "I wanted her to continue," says Begoña, "but now she wants to dedicate herself to her grandchildren." New times that, little by little, will be fun again.

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

• LOC

Relations Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada falls in love with WhatsApp to a richer, younger and more handsome: Luis Gasset

Politics Andrea Levy and José Ruiz-Gallardón, the love that emerged before the pandemic and was consolidated in Phase 1

CultureMusic, sneakers, drugs and millions of Kanye West, the man who wants to unseat Michael Jordan

See links of interest

• Last minute
• TV programming
• Spanish traslator
• 2020 calendar
• Horoscope today
• League classification
• Santander League Calendar
• Movies today
• Themes
• Ruiz Zafon

• Unicaja - Barça
• Norwich City - Southampton
• Granada CF - Villarreal
• Mallorca - Leganés
• Seville - Barcelona