Paramount Park - Alhama Murcia Spain

Spain has many unique sights and attractions which help to draw millions of tourists each year but now it has another with the exciting announcement of a major new theme park from Paramount pictures to be called Paramount Park.

The Paramount Pictures theme park in Spain will be built at Alhama de Murcia near Mazarron and it is estimated that as many as 3 million tourists will visit the theme park each year.

This is great news for the Spanish tourist industry which many years ago were hoping that Disney would announce that it had chosen Spain as the site for its European theme park.

Of course we all know now that Paris was chosen instead. In hindsight this now looks a mistake given the problems that it has endured with the cold and wet weather being just one of the reasons for the lack of success of Disney Paris.

There are already many other popular theme parks in Spain. The best-known ones are currently Terra Mitica in Benidorm, Warner Brothers Movie World near Madrid, the Universal Studios owned Port Aventura theme park near Barcelona and Isla Magica in Seville.

The Murcia region is growing in popularity as more and more people decide to move there or go on holiday there. There are some wonderful secluded sandy beaches which are very much undiscovered and the Murcia weather and climate is one of the best in the whole of Spain with very little rainfall and hot temperatures most of the year round.

This could be a great time to buy property and land close to the park although the planning process and construction time must be at least four years if not more.

The first phase of the Paramount theme park will cover 3.5 million square meters with an estimated cost of over €60 million. Later phases will be added to include more hotels and services. The Murcia regional government have provided great support for this project which will create 20,000 new jobs.

About Paramount Pictures: Paramount Pictures were founded in 1912 and are America’s oldest existing film studio with a huge back catalogue of classic films including Love Story, Chinatown, The Godfather, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Titanic and Terms of Endearment. The ownership of children’s TV channel Nickelodeon should provide plenty of opportunities for rides and attractions.

About Murcia: The Murcia region has excellent autoroute connections and access to two international airports with Murcia San Javier 45 minutes away and Alicante 1 hour 15 minutes away.

A major new airport will open in 2013 in Murcia at Corvera with a high speed rail link to Madrid due to open in 2014. Murcia spent €750 million in the past two years to boost infrastructure and attract more visitors.

Latest Paramount Park News:

Building has begun at the site for Paramount Park:

“PREMURSA Starts Work on the First Paramount Theme Park in Europe and the LifeStyle Center in Alhama de Murcia

The Formal Ceremony Gathered, Among Other Dignitaries, Ramon Luis Valcarcel, President of the Autonomous Community of Murcia; Joaquin Bascunana, Delegate of the Government for the Region of Murcia; Alfonso Fernando Ceron, Mayor of the Town Hall of Alhama de Murcia; Michael Bartok, Executive Vice President of Paramount Licensing Inc.; and Jesus Samper, President and CEO of PREMURSA

The Project, Opening in 2015, Is Estimated to Welcome More Than 3 Million Visitors per Year and Will Generate More Than 22 Thousand Jobs

ALHAMA DE MURCIA, SPAIN–(Marketwire – May 31, 2012) – Proyectos Emblemáticos Murcianos S.A. (PREMURSA) achieved another milestone in the development of the Paramount theme park and LifeStyle Center in Alhama de Murcia this morning, during a formal ceremony presided over by Ramón Luis Valcárcel, President of the Autonomous Community of Murcia; Joaquín Bascuñana, Delegate of the Government for the Region of Murcia; Alfonso Fernando Cerón, Mayor of the Town Hall of Alhama de Murcia; Michael Bartok, Executive Vice President of Paramount Licensing Inc.; and Jesús Samper, President and CEO of PREMURSA.

After purchasing the project land on March 7th, 2012, the groundbreaking ceremony took place today and, according to Jesús Samper, “the project will become an international tourist destination estimated to welcome more than 3 million visitors per year.”

Michael Bartok declared Paramount’s goal in Spain is the “establishment of a state-of-the-art theme park intended to attract and entertain both locals and tourists alike.” That goal, according to Mr. Bartok, is bolstered by the region of Murcia “because of its outstanding location and climate as well as its variety of cultural and leisure attractions.”

Furthermore, the first Paramount theme park in Europe and the LifeStyle Center will contribute to the economic development of the Region of Murcia by generating more than 22 thousand jobs, both directly and indirectly. In anticipation of receiving thousands of job applications, PREMURSA will create a virtual office on its website (www.premursa.com) in the coming weeks to facilitate the processing of applications from individuals and companies interested in participating in the project.”

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/premursa-starts-work-on-first-paramount-theme-park-europe-lifestyle-center-alhama-de-1663793.htm

News has leaked of the attractions and rides expected to be built at Paramount Park:

“I’ve got to admit, that new proposed Paramount Park in Spain is looking to be the real deal and not just another proposal. A new presentation took place this week in Spain reveling new details about the park and artwork. Paramount Park will be managed by Parques Reunidos, and hopes to start construction as early as March 2012, and open by Spring 2015, but the project still needs to find all the needed investors to get it off the ground.

The park will feature five lands, Paseo Paramount (the entry street, which will also feature a School of Rock live music show), Adventure City (to feature rides themed to Grease, Titanic and Mission: Impossible, the later of which almost looks like a Spiderman style ride system), Rango’s West (4D Theater, River Rapids and a Mine Train coaster), Woodland Fantasy (Interactive Spiderwick themed Dark Ride, a fantasy boat ride, Kiddie Rides and some kind of 3D haunted attraction themed to Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman) and Plaza Futura (home to a War of the Worlds ride, a Star Trek simulator, the Warp Speed launched coaster and something else called Quasar Force for the kids).”

http://www.screamscape.com/html/paramount_park_spain.htm

Below: The Titanic ride: