These figures confirm that the financial crisis has also certainly reached the gaming sector. "At the end of 2008 we began to notice a reduction in takings, with a fall of between 5% and 6%, but it has been during the first months of this year that the fall has become really accentuated showing a drop of almost 11%. We are talking about the worst moment in our history", said Albert Sola, President of the Independent Association of Amusement Machine Operating Companies in Catalonia (Europer). "In the medium term we still fear that there is worse to come and we shall experience a decline of as much as 15%," he continued.

The businessmen in this sector, as well as observing the emptier pockets of their clients have themselves been particularly badly hit by the massive closure of bars and restaurants, above all on industrial estates. According to Merce Claramunt, Director General of the Department of Gaming and Entertainment in the Catalonian government, "This data seems to disprove the belief that in a time of crisis, people play more."

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