Solverde - Sociedade de Investimentos Turísticos da Costa Verde S.A. – was founded on 12 April, 1972 by Manuel Violas, leading a group of investors from the region of Espinho.
Specially designed to work in tourism, in 1973 Solverde won the concession as the gaming unit for Espinho, with the commitment to apply most of its profits in that city.
The Casino de Espinho was inaugurated on 25 September, 1982. At the time of its inauguration it was the biggest in the country, and possibly in Europe too. Two years later the Hotel Apartamento Solverde, with over 300 beds, was built.
During that period Solverde contributed actively towards the development of tourism, sports and other social, cultural and artistic activities in Espinho. Several infra-structures were built, such as a covered swimming-pool, a bull-fight ring, social housing, a railway overpass, primary schools and an old-age home.
In 1988 the contract for the gaming concession was renewed until 2008. In that same year there was the inauguration of the most modern Solverde Hotel, situated at Granja beach. It is considered a “five star” paradise for the excellent infra-structures, its location by the coast and the quality services provided, compared only to the best hotels in Europe.
In 1991 with the decease of its founder, Solverde was taken on by his son and namesake – Manuel Violas – who undertook to continue the management model that had been implemented but not neglecting the new profitability and investment opportunities.
The following year Solverde was recognized as the best enterprise in the ranking of the hotel sector. 1995 was the year of great innovations and deep strategic alterations for Solverde: the Espinho Casino underwent great changes and benefited from a general renovation so that it would become the biggest and most reputed auditorium in Porto and in the north of the country. On the other hand, in June of the same year, Solverde expanded significantly. It participated in the race for the concession of the Algarve casinos (Vilamoura, Monte Gordo and Praia da Rocha). Winning this implies a graded investment and the right to run the gaming until 2017. This contest, included the purchase of the Algarve Hotel, situated in Praia da Rocha which was to become the first casino-hotel in the country.
In this manner, with the acquisition of the gaming area in the Algarve, followed by hotel investments in the same region, Solverde grew substantially, both in physical and human resources. On the 1st of February in 1996, Solverde began to run the casinos of the Algarve, starting with the one in Vilamoura, followed by the Monte Gordo and then the Praia da Rocha casinos.
Successive improvements have contributed to a more well-known group. The Casino de Espinho, as from 2001, underwent a cycle of renovation which turned it into one of the most modern in Europe. This project amounted to 14,96 million euros of which 1,246 million euros were used in the building of the bingo. In 2002, two projects were of particular relevance: the conclusion of the general renovation of the Casino de Espinho and the tourist complex in the region of Chaves, thanks to the concession of the gaming area of Vidago-Pedras Salgadas. The following year, the Solverde group also invests about two million euros in the renovation of the Hotel Algarve Casino, in Praia da Rocha.
In January 2008, Solverde starts to run the Casino Chaves, opening in June the hotel unit which completes the most important tourist development in Chaves. In September of the same year, the Prime-Minister José Socrates officially inaugurates the Hotel Casino Chaves, a structure which involved an investment of 50 million euros and provided 230 direct work posts.
With all these initiatives Solverde was no longer involved in projects at a merely regional level but also national. Thus, the Government recognized Solverde’s effort in the development of the sector and Solverde has been awarded twice the “Gold Medal of Merit in Tourism”.
Throughout these years the group has registered a constant reinforcement of its financial capacity .Thus in 1995 and 1996 it was placed in ranking 1 – the highest ranking in credit assigned by Dun & Bradstreet.
The Solverde casinos were no longer spaces exclusively designed for gaming but also important in the entertainment and cultural sectors, not only because these spaces were open to a range of events of a cultural nature but also because of the performances held that dignified both Portuguese and foreign music and artists.
