The Montevideo venue will end its municipal operation on 28 August before reopening under the General Directorate of Casinos in September
The transfer will end Montevideo City Hall’s management of Uruguay’s only municipal casino and place the venue within the country’s national casino network.
Casino Parque Hotel will close as a municipal operation on Friday, 28 August. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is expected to take possession of the premises on 1 September through the General Directorate of Casinos (DGC).
Local and trade union sources indicate that the casino is expected to reopen under national management on 9 or 10 September. The interruption should therefore be temporary rather than a permanent closure of the gaming venue.
Agreement covers 46 municipal employees
The employment arrangements were one of the main issues addressed during negotiations between Montevideo City Hall and workers’ representatives.
Of the casino’s 46 municipal employees, 35 will enter an incentivised early-retirement programme. Their years working in the casino are recognised as hazardous employment, allowing them to retire earlier.
The remaining employees are undergoing interviews to determine where they can be reassigned within the municipal administration. The process requires some workers to retrain because specialised casino positions do not have direct equivalents in other City Hall departments.
Silvia Tejera, General Secretary of the Association of Municipal Employees and Workers (Adeom), confirmed the early-retirement agreement.
The new operation is expected to employ staff assigned through the national casino structure rather than transferring the remaining municipal employees to the DGC.
DGC will operate under its own licence
The transfer is not understood to involve the sale or assignment of Montevideo’s existing casino licence.
The DGC will operate the venue under its own authority and with its own gaming machines. Previous reports indicated that City Hall would lease the building to the national government and sell part of the furniture and some remaining equipment.
The national directorate already manages casinos in Montevideo, Punta del Este, Piriápolis and Rivera, together with a wider network of gaming halls across Uruguay.
Successive losses drove the change
Mayor Mario Bergara proposed ending municipal management of the casino after taking office. He questioned whether operating a loss-making gaming venue remained an appropriate function for the city administration.
Casino Parque Hotel reported losses of UYU173 million in 2021, UYU69 million in 2022, UYU87 million in 2023 and UYU83 million in 2024.
The city had continued leasing slot machines and operating software while negotiations with the MEF progressed. Two tenders for gaming equipment were previously declared unsuccessful.
The venue has a long connection with Montevideo’s casino sector. The original Parque Hotel complex opened in 1909 and was acquired by City Hall in 1915. The casino moved in 2015 to the former Casa de Andalucía building in Parque Rodó, where the current gaming operation is located.
