ARCHIVED - Pedro Cruz gets a roasting in the Regional Assembly over Paramount.

In a no holds barred confrontation with the opposition over the transparency and viability of the Paramount project.

This week the Consejero for Culture and Tourism, Pedro Alberto Cruz, was called before the Regional Assembly to answer questions posed by opposition politicians about the progress and financing of the Paramount Park project.

It was an impassioned and "lively" session, frustration clearly showing as the political powers in the region clashed and the divisions between those who advocate that Paramount will be Happy Ever After for the Region of Murcia and those who preferred to liken it to a Rocky Horror version of Little Red Riding Hood in which the big bad wolf of public opinion snapped up the Consejero for tourism with relish.

Last week Premursa purchased two thirds of the land required to start construction and Paramount Licensing took a seat on the board of Directors of Premursa, two factors which can be interpreted, according to those speaking in the Regional Assembly, as either a sign that this project is an absolute certainty and construction will begin as promised, this summer, or as a bid to give the project credibility and reinforcement whilst the hunt for investment continues.

Pedro Cruz was animated and passionate, determined in his conviction and support for this project, " this is not a project of the Consejería of Culture, or Jesús Samper, or the Government of Murcia , or the PP, but of the region of Murcia, of all Murcianos, " he said, " Paramount would not have put its name to this project if it was a farce."

He was adamant that the project was proceeding on course, and detailed the steps taken from day one to bring the project to fruition, one by one, transparent, open and documented, as well as revealing the scheduling for the future as the project moves forward.

The first stone will be laid on the 30th or 31st May 2012.
In July, businesses interested in carrying out the works can put in their bids to do so.
In September the initial processes for those interested in working within the project can begin application procedures.

In September building work will start.
At the beginning of 2013 the contracts for the specialised works will be granted.

And the most interesting point, the Lifestyle Center will be inaugurated at the end of 2014, although the park itself will not be open until the middle of 2015.
Cruz said, " the Lifestyle Center will function from the end of 2014, before the theme park and will include hotels, restaurants, a casino, a shopping zone in which the biggest "outlet" for exclusive brands in the Mediterranean will be located."

He discussed at length the benefits the park would bring to the region, in terms of economic benefits, employment and roll-up business activity, and emphasised that this park is unlike any other park which exists in Europe, 90% of the attractions being unique to this park, the emphasis being on the latest 3D and 4D technology.

In his final address, following the time allocated for opposition politicians to have their say, he defended the model of theme parks and their impact on tourism activity.

The whole argument about theme parks which has been raging since the possibility of constructing this project in the region first surfaced at the beginning of 2010, is based on the non-viability of theme parks. Various arguments have been put forward calling into question the whole model of theme parks and their viability, and whilst the Consejero was able to highlight and quote examples of parks which are returning good dividends for their investors, the opposition politicians had a plethora of examples of parks which had failed to not only make any money, but had resulted in multi-million dollar losses for their investors.

But the point which the Consejero was keen to emphasise is the total impact a theme park has on the location in which it is built.
Areas with theme parks demonstrate a significant increase in economic activity, due to the visitors attracted, supporting the retail sector, hotel and restaurant sector, as well as the entire services sector dedicated to servicing the additional visitors attracted to the park. To say nothing of the economic impact on property sales in the surrounding areas.

He cited:
Increase in direct contractions
Increased occupancy
Improvement to infrastructure
Stimulus for associated businesses
Increased short stay tourism benefiting the entire area
Important repositioning of the entire area as a complete  tourism package.

And the point made most eloquently by one of the speakers who followed the Consejero is that this park is not just about a theme park attraction. It´s about construction.

The question nobody has asked, is how is the money really going to be made out of this Paramount project.
And the truth is, the money will be made building the residential urbanisations which will inevitably spring up around this project and in the retail activities in the associated Lifestyle Center.

No matter what anybody says, this region lacks a true "leisure zone". Each town has its own programmes, its own conference centre, its exhibitions, its activities, but there is no one place which is the focal point, the big draw, the unquestionable choice, we have a fragmented tourism offering, which visitors must attempt to piece together for themselves.

This project will be the glue around which the rest stick, and the money will come from the activities which happen around this centre IF sufficient promotion is done to bring in the volume of visitors required to sustain the park.
It was indicated during the discourse, that sports will be used to promote the park, specifically football, a natural course to follow given the international activities of Santa Monica sports, one of Sampers major business interests.

Following the speech by the Consejero, the opposition politicians each had their twenty minute´s worth, and from above the Consejero could be clearly seen squirming in his seat, agitated, shifting from side to side, writing notes to reply, hand shaking as the barbs hit home,  harsh words of doubt and criticism assailing him.

José Antonio Pujante from the IU-Verdes launched straight into the attack, demanding the resignation of the Consejero, ridiculing the projected visitor figures " if they´re going to bring in 10,000 visitors a day they´ll have to extend the airport, otherwise it will sink like the Titanic, " calling into question the whole issue of financing, " who is going to bring money in a time of economic crisis like this."

He attacked the amount of money spent  on consultancy, the services contracted with Marta Consulting which also brought the Arab Investment forum to Murcia and the Consejero for what he called the "wasteful spending " and the "farce of Murcia No-Typical. "

"He should resign, go home and stop wasting money, " he said, to which the Consejero replied that he would go happily if Pujante were willing to accompany him and resign himself.
However, at the end of his speech, Pujante committed the equivalent of political suicide by admitting hed never set foot in a theme park, ammunition which was pounced on with great delight by those opposing the IU, who immediately mocked the "oh so intellectual left" who understood nothing of the needs of others, "less intellectual than themselves."

And it didn´t stop there, Antonio Martínez Bernal of the PSOE saying, "they´re telling us a Paramount Fairy Tale; at the end the wolf will come and snap snap, its goodbye to  Caperucita... ( little red riding hood.)
He also said the whole project was just a bluff and couldn´t deliver what the consejero was promising.
The language used was uncompromising, critical, harsh : farsical, suspicious, speculative, dangerous, a lie...

The response was a passionate discourse by the Consejero, standing by the project, disputing the claims made by the opposition, answering every point with reasons why this project WILL succeed, WILL be built and WILL go ahead, in spite of the disbelievers.

When the land purchase was signed hed said, "nobody buys land and invests 28 million euros into a project, as Jesús Samper has done, if they don´t believe in it, " he said, this purchase is " a point of no return. "

But in the end, the only factor which will convince the sceptics is the colour of money, the naming of investors, something which the Concejero said in private to the press before his discourse, that he was not in a position to reveal, secrecy clauses denying him the luxury of being able to prove the doubters wrong.

"This project is vital for the region, " he said, "Its our only chance to stimulate the economy and create jobs."

It was an uncompromising session. Press coverage of the discourses has been frank, no holds barred, and the Consejero made a point of criticising the harsh coverage given by some media to those who doubt the viability of the project and question its transparency.

So there are still no answers to the financing issue. We still don´t know whether the money is there, whether there are firm investors, or who they are.
The first stone will be laid at the end of May, the construction will begin in September.
Will it be Happy Ever After for the Paramount project or is this a journey to Never Neverland.

The truth is. After 2 years of speculation, we still don´t know.

The whole story of the Paramount Murcia theme Park has been documented since the beginning, Click Paramount Murcia for a summary of the main articles and history of the project. More articles can be searched by using the Keyword search box. Simply type in Paramount and all articles will appear, newest on top.