Gran Casino del Sardinero
The Gran Casino del Sardinero is a leading gambling casino in the city of Santander in the autonomous community of Cantabria (Spain). It is in the Plaza de Italia in El Sardinero. History. There had been a casino very popular with royalty in this location, but it was demolished after a fire in the 1890s and the present building erected. It opened in 1916, designed by architect Eloy Martínez del Valle. Since it opened the casino has combined roulette and baccarat with dancing and staging of plays, musicals and operas. Not because it stopped being the  focal point of summer fun, a situation which, however, was a remarkable turn during the post-war. The almost complete closure of their premises, except the theater which was assigned to art cinema and testing, continued until December 1, 1978, when it was reopened as a gambling casino after of the restoration carried out by the architect Ricardo Lorenzo, who kept the neoclassical style with modernist touches. The Gran Casino sponsors and organizes various cultural and sporting events (Festival Internacional de Santander), photographic contests, sculpture and painting exhibitions, bowling, football, rowing and other activities.