Theme park could be just years away

TPG first came up with the theme park project back in 2003 but too many political problems led to the group eventually deciding to proceed no further.
However, Sinclair said yesterday that, in the wake of the PP's return to power earlier this year, TPG approached its share holders and investors past and present about reviving the project and it received unanimous support.

On Tuesday Sinclair and TPG's Technical Director met the Balearic President, Jose Ramon Bauza, and his cabinet to outline and explain their intentions and the project was well received. “The government have given us some guidelines within which we have to work and hope to be able to present them with the closed project within a matter of weeks. “We also need to talk to out investors because the project will cost between 200 and 300 million euros, depending on how much we include in the park. “We have three possible locations. One in Campos and two closer to Palma. The park will cover an area of 100 hectares, that is one million square metres, we don't want anything smaller, and it will be a European theme park. “We consider the project extremely viable, as does the government apparently, so hopefully, work will begin on the project within the next 12 to 18 months. “The park will be open all year, apart from a few weeks for maintenance etc. and will also include a large concert arena for 50'000 people because we also intend to bring top international acts like Shakira to the island so the locals don't have to travel to Madrid or Barcelona,” Sinclair added. “Our main aim is to boost off season tourism and we expect to attract 1.5 million people a year during the first few years. “We will also be creating some 2'000 jobs during the construction phase and then, once fully operational, employing as many as 800 people during peak season,” Sinclair said yesterday.