ARCHIVED - Paramount Park greeted cautiously by Unions and political opposition parties

The Paramount Park and Lifestyle Center promises to create over 20,000 jobs

After the presentation of the Paramount project yesterday, mixed reactions have greeted the projected employment figures and the economic impact which the park will have on the Region of Murcia.

José Antonio Pujante, coordinator of the IU-Verdes political party in the Region of Murcia, has introduced a note of caution into the widespread optimism regarding the future of the Paramount theme park Project and its impact on the Region of Murcia.

"Wheres the money going to come from?" is the general thrust of his argument. In the context of widespread international economic and financial crisis, he fears that it will be difficult to find investors with the cash necessary to fund the project, particularly with the banks having learnt their lesson and now being unwilling to over-extend themselves in terms of giving credit.

The cost-cutting measures imposed by governments throughout the European union, and the failure of the "build build build" model of growth in areas like the Region of Murcia over the last few years could make it hard to attract the necessary investment, according to Sr Pujante. Banks are no longer willing to take risks, he says, on this type of project, and will not be keen to underwrite the 1,094 million euros of investment needed to ensure the projects viability.

Again according to Sr Pujante, if the banks are unwilling to finance the Paramount project, then this only leaves the alternative of finding one powerful investor who doesnt need their help, and he fears that the few candidates with that kind of money in their pocket would prefer, in the current economic climate, to invest in other projects which are less risky.

At the official presentation of the project yesterday in Madrid it was confidently stated that the Paramount theme park would attract three million visitors a year. No-one is currently in a position to say whether this prediction is accurate, but Sr Pujante says that other theme parks attract considerably fewer: Terra Mítica, in Benidorm, has about half a million every year, Isla Mágica (Seville) is visited by about a million, and the Warner theme park in Madrid welcomes about a million and a half people per year.

Similar concerns have also been voiced by Antonio Jiménez, the general secretary of the UGT trades union. Of course he recognizes that any project which brings wealth and jobs to the Region of Murcia should be welcomed, but he also hopes that the Paramount project doesnt turn out to be nothing more than a very large white elephant. He hopes that the workers will be represented on the committees in charge of designing and constructing the park. ( !!!)

Daniel Bruno is the representative of CCOO, one of the other main unions, in the Region, and he also sees the project as, potentially, in the interests of Murcia as a whole. However, he is unhappy that the Paramount plan is being presented as the sole savior of the Region of Murcia, and fears that expectations are being raised unfairly and prematurely. The theme park alone is not enough to drag Murcia out of the dire financial straits in which it finds itself, he says.

Sr Bruno has serious reservations about the agreement signed with the Town Hall of Alhama de Murcia on Monday, whereby the local council agreed to waive 90% of the IBI taxes for three years, and 30% of the tax on constructions. He referred to the agreement as "unedifying", and hopes that the Mayor knows what hes doing. According to Sr Bruno, the Town Hall has its own serious financial problems, and is hardly in a position to turn down income - by doing so, it creates the worry that public taxes are being used to create profitability for a few private companies and individuals.

It was interesting as an outside observer the last couple of days to watch the distancing process which is also underway. Jésus Samper was at great pains to stress on both the occasion of signing the urban convenio in Alhama and the investor  presentation yesterday in Madrid, that this is a private enterprise and is not being financed by public money.

All the investment for this project, he says,. will have to come from private investors, not the regional government.

In the light of the forthcoming elections, Premursa are keen to ensure that the project of the park is not viewed as a politically motivated promotion and stands on its own two feet as a commercial entity.

 For the full history of the Paramount Park and Lifestyle Center and to see the promotional video displayed in Madrid, Click Paramount Park and Lifestyle Center