New tender called for the Esquel casino

The Lotería del Chubut, in the Argentine province of Chubut, has opened a formal public tender to operate a casino and an additional gaming hall in the city of Esquel. Under the tender terms, the new operator must gradually rehire the roughly 50 workers who lost their jobs when the casino closed last March.

The casino was shut indefinitely and without prior notice on 25 March 2026 by its operator, Trewelyn S.A. The company later confirmed that all staff had been dismissed. Ramiro Ibarra, head of the provincial agency Lotería, said Trewelyn had paid the licence fee for its casino in Puerto Madryn but not for Esquel, and stated that none of the company's bids would be accepted.

The tender documents also cover table games. However, Ibarra's initial proposal was a model centred on slot machines, because running table games is costly. This choice could lead to smaller and simpler gaming halls and may also affect which operators decide to bid.

The former casino building belongs to Trewelyn, and workers have had the property attached as collateral for their severance claims. This makes it harder to reuse the building. Speaking on behalf of the workers, Sebastián Pérez Rienzi said that finding or building a new venue would take at least a year. Ibarra had previously estimated that reopening would take six months.

Court proceedings have also fallen short of the workers' expectations. On 6 October a ruling was issued in favour of 36 workers, ordering Trewelyn to pay their March wages with interest. The workers say they have not yet received any cash payment. The provincial government has promised support, and the provincial legislature has approved a request for information on the Trewelyn cases.