Spaniards are desperate.

Enter American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

The controversial owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and third-richest American wants to build a version of the Nevada gambling mecca in the outskirts of Madrid or Barcelona. A mega-resort dedicated to entertainment and business conferences, it would include 12 hotels, six casinos and three golf courses spread across 2,000 acres — the biggest urban development project in Spain since the 1992 Olympics.

The main hook: EuroVegas would create up to 250,000 jobs in a country where almost 6 million people, up to a quarter of the workforce, are unemployed.

At least that was the pitch until the projected number fell to 14,000 when the company’s directors visited Spain in June, when they also announced a drop in investment from $21 billion to $7.3 billion, two-thirds of which would have to come from Spanish banks.

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“I’m doing this for the money,” said Angela Fernandez, 25, who has donated eggs twice and is already in the process of donating again this summer.

Fernandez owes the bank 5,000 euros (about $6,275) in overdue mortgage payments. But with every egg donation she makes to a fertility clinic she receives 1,000 euros – a substantial difference to her family’s income.

Fernandez and her husband, along with 47.3 percent of Spaniards under 30, are out of work. For over a year, they have relied on unemployment benefits of 600 euros per month – not enough to feed a family of four and make monthly mortgage repayments of 200 euros on their Barcelona flat.

Selling eggs and sperm is forbidden under Spanish law, but assisted reproduction centers are allowed to pay a “compensation fee” to donors for the inconvenience, transportation costs and time spent away from work.

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