European green light for Paramount theme park in Alhama de Murcia subsidy

A 16-million-euro subsidy could kick-start construction at the Paramount site

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that a proposed subsidy of 16.28 million euros of public funds will be given the green light, providing help to Premursa in order to build the Paramount theme park and a four-star hotel in Alhama de Murcia.

The Spanish authorities notified Brussels of their intention to provide the subsidy in June of this year, and the conclusion of the EC is that the proposal will indeed favour regional development in Murcia without infringing European rules concerning unfair competition.

The whole Paramount Project is expected to require an investment of 206.6 million euros, and the authorities in Brussels note that 1,500 jobs will be created during construction. According to the press statement, when completed, the theme park will create direct employment for approximately 1,200 people.

The European Commission considers that the grant of 16.2 million euros complies with European competition rules and that the subsidy will help to favour local development within the region, which is “an area which is entitled to receive regional development loans”.

The executive said in their communication that they had “arrived at the conclusion that the positive contribution of the measure to favour local development would outweigh the competitive situation created by the private company being given state aid.”

The 16 million euros will help Premursa to kick start the project and continue searching for the finances required to fully construct the park. Premursa have been searching for backers since 2010 and have presented the project to dozens of potential investors and banks across the world, none of whom have been willing to back the project and invest to make it a reality.

This good news for the region comes the day after several major figures in the regional tourist board resigned following Monday’s arrests of over 50 people as part of investigations into corruption in the adjudication of contracts.