A regional administrative court has ordered the Municipio de Guayaquil to remove the closure seals placed on Club del Sol, a venue operating on Av. Juan Tanca Marengo y Constitución in Guayaquil, reopening a high-profile dispute that mixes municipal licensing enforcement with Ecuador’s broader criminal prohibition on casinos.
According to newsthe venue was shut by the municipality on 13 February 2026 after inspectors found it lacked the required Licencia Anual de Funcionamiento de Establecimientos (LAFE). A lawsuit was filed by the Fundación Ecuatoriana de Fibrosis Quística, and the Tribunal Distrital de lo Contencioso Administrativo ruled that the city must lift the seals—effectively allowing the venue to resume operations while the underlying legal debate continues.
The decision is reported as signed by judges Ángel Herminio Ponce Sigchay, Fabián Roberto Cueva Monteros, and Mario Felipe Proaño Quevedo.
The municipality rejected the ruling in a public statement, defending the closure as a straightforward compliance matter tied to mandatory operating permits and broader regularisation issues, including land-use and administrative requirements.
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The case is politically and legally sensitive because Ecuador banned casinos via the 2011 referendum, yet venues have periodically attempted to operate under “social” or foundation-linked structures. That tension intersects with Article 236 of the COIP (Código Orgánico Integral Penal), which criminalises administering or operating casinos, gambling halls or betting houses, with penalties of one to three years’ imprisonment. The same article increases exposure to three to five years if the activity is carried out for profit while pretending it is non-profit—a clause directly relevant to foundation-based models.
For operators and regulators, Club del Sol underscores a practical reality: even where criminal prohibitions exist, enforcement can hinge on administrative levers like licensing and municipal permits—and courts can reshape outcomes case by case.
