Spanish forums and English media claiming that Alhama is the chosen location for the Paramount Theme Park are jumping the gun. This misunderstanding has followed the announcement by the La Verdad newspaper claiming they had inside information.
In order to prevent speculators from scuppering a deal prior to signing, Paramount have insisted on a secrecy clause so it looks like a couple of months before an announcement is made.
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.
Jesus Samper put out an OFFICIAL press release which came from the EFE Press Agency in Madrid, "Until there is a firm agreement about the location, we can't 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%.
It may well turn out that Alhama is the agreed location but it is precarious to assume this and possible investors should be careful of these rumours. Yes, great to see the optimism in the area and excitement by estate agents eager to promote their properties. Undoubtedly there will be those hunting around for property bargain but the fact remains that Europe are still in the centre of a substantial recession and prices in Spain are still said to be overvalued. Even when the deal is done, it will take at least 3 years to build the theme park.
