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Paramount theme park Murcia, Widespread inaccurate reporting provokes flood of misleading newsletters

2010-10-20

There is no tactful way to say what needs to be said, other than to make a simple statement of fact.

IT HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED OFFICIALLY BY ANYBODY THAT ALHAMA HAS BEEN SELECTED AS THE LOCATION FOR THE PARAMOUNT THEME PARK.

Yesterday we were besieged with newsletters from estate agents, property developers and those wishing to sell their houses with the exciting news that Alhama has been selected.

THIS IS NOT SO.

All the English media and forums  blazing headlines that Alhama is the chosen one are JUMPING THE GUN, the result of which is that misleading information is being given to millions by those who have been given the wrong information in the first place.

The confusion has all been caused by the La Verdad newspaper who put out the story that Alhama had been selected by the Region of Murcia as the location.

This information was given to them by what they call inside sources.

The truth is, everyone working on this project has been sworn to secrecy as Paramount are insistent on a secrecy clause. This is quite rightly to prevent speculators from scuppering a deal before paperwork has been signed, something which happens regularly in business and costs businesses billions in wasted research, and project planning.

The story claiming that Alhama had been chosen was "leaked" to La Verdad on the day that Jesus Samper, the man whom the region of Murcia say is heading up this project, was appearing in court , implicated in a money laundering, property corruption and fraud case, which implicates both himself and his business empire.

Call me cynical, but the phrase smoke and mirrors leaps readily to mind.

Whilst he may well be absolved from implication, this could cause serious problems with Paramount Licensing, were he to be convicted.

There will be no verdicts in this case for a long time yet as there are still many investigations underway, but either way, it could still put off major international investors, and as of today, all those interested in participating are said to be from overseas.

Said to be, being the operative word, as again, there is no official confirmation.

The region of Murcia has this week been keen to play down the role being played by Samper, but the fact remains, his company, Santa Monica financial services, is an 80% stakeholder in the company which will develop this project. The region of Murcia has a token stake and insists that it is not putting any money into this project.

Which is a good job as it hasnt actually got any, read the economic report we posted yesterday about the coffers of Murcia being glaringly empty.

Even if Alhama has been selected from amongst the contendors, an agreement still has to be reached about the cost of the land, something which has not happened to date, and although the likelihood is that the IRM group who own the land will become stakeholders in the project rather than cash actually changing hands, nothing has yet been agreed.

Yesterday Jesus Samper put out an OFFICIAL press release which came from the EFE Press Agency in Madrid.
In it he said, and I quote, "Until there is a firm agreement about the location, we cant begin talking about investors, but once there is a firm location, I am sure that there will be those interested in talking about participating, " Original text, "Hasta que no haya una ubicación concreta no se puede hablar de inversores, pero una vez que la haya, estoy seguro de que habrá interesados en participar en el proyecto"

He went on to say that there is still nothing firmly agreed, " aunque no hay todavia nada concreto, " there is still nothing concrete agreed, and ended by saying that he expected to be able to announce the location of the park and the interested parties within a couple of months.

Both Samper and representatives from the region have been firm in their assertion that there are still several sites under consideration, and that nothing has been agreed 100%.

Of course, it may well be Alhama, but it is dangerous to be talking about this as a done deal, even if Alhama has been selected. Investors may well take these unconfirmed rumours as being fact and purchase property, then discover that the project is not even happening at all.

From here, the steps are as follows:

Once the potential site has been selected, contracts will be prepared for the purchase of the land with a one year expiry. This guarantees the land availability.

From this point investors can be sought to finance the project, all the money for which has to come from commercial sources. Initial estimates are that this could be in excess of 3 billion euros.

Providing investors can be found, plans will then be prepared for the full and final project, which then have to be submitted to Paramount Licensing for their approval.

If the project is to their satisfaction, the full license will be granted , contracts can then be exchanged and the project begin.

This will all happen within the coming year, but ONLY IF investors can be found, and at the moment, there arent any, at least, not officially, and no names have been mentioned, even by La Verdad.

Once the agreement is in place and construction begins, it will take 3 years or so to build the park before it begins operating.

The most immediate effect in this area is likely to be an uplift in optimism. There will undoubtedly be those speculators sniffing around for property bargains, but the fact remains that we are deep in the midst of a massive recession.

Official reports show little hope of recovery in the Spanish property market and general property prices in Spain are still said to be overvalued in relation to EU prices, so without this Paramount project, there would be little movement in property markets for at least the next 18 months to come.

Prices nationwide are still falling, rental prices nationwide are still falling, even in the stable Spanish domestic market, and the Spanish government has been warned that it must make even more drastic austerity measures to emerge from this economic recession.

Unemployment is over 20%, more than double the European average and the government has today announced a major reshuffle to try and stave off the resignation of the Prime Minister.

Crime is increasing, charities are struggling to cope with the numbers of unemployed families asking for food, and the health service is absolutely broke.

Yes, this park will improve employment prospects, it will inject optimism, it will make the area more attractive to potential buyers, but NOTHING IS CERTAIN YET.

Of course the estate agents are excited and want to tell people this is definitely happening, but at the moment its just a plan on a piece of paper and its a POSSIBILITY not a dead cert.

And for most of us, who chose to live here without there being a Paramount theme park, it will make little difference to our daily lives Realistically, the major volumes of people using the park will be staying there, not in our spare rooms, unless of course, our relatives and all those people we havent heard for in 15 years who all want a free holiday may wish to resume a long lost friendship.There could even be the odd small miracle or two, if developers who have cheated and robbed innocent people by abandoning them with incomplete infrastructures and unfulfilled promises return to complete the urbanizations they have abandoned as they can smell fresh money entering the area as the next wave of purchasers snap up substandard property in the hope of making a quick buck or two.

Dont get us wrong. We want prosperity and stability for this regions economy. We know this park will bring investment and opportunity for all of us who are struggling to keep our heads above water and desperately paddling around, waiting for things to improve. We want to see the problems faced by many residents here solved, and the money this park will bring may well incentivise our local councils to do what they should be doing.

But wed rather wait for the official announcements before hanging out the bunting and dont want to see anyone making a life changing decision based on hearsay, rumour and speculation, rather than cold, hard facts.

Please make sure this information goes onto the forums if you use them.

Believe me, if theres good news, the region wants this and needs this more than any of us can possibly comprehend , and wont hesitate to let us all know.

At the moment, THERE HAS BEEN NO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE LOCATION OF THE PARAMOUNT THEME PARK IN MURCIA.

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