PortAventura World


PortAventura World is an entertainment resort in Salou and Vila-seca, Tarragona, on the Costa Daurada in Catalonia, Spain. It was built around the PortAventura Park theme park, which attracts around 3.5 million visitors per year, making it the most visited theme park in Spain and the sixth most visited theme park in Europe. The resort includes a second theme park, Ferrari Land, since 2017 and also includes PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park, five hotels, a convention centre and a RV park. It is the biggest resort in the south of Europe which attracts around 5 million visitors per year. It has Reus Airport within 15 minutes of it and Barcelona Airport within an hour. There is a train station for PortAventura which has connections to Barcelona, Salou and Tortosa.

History

'Port Aventura' opened in 1995 in Salou, Tussauds Group had a 40,01% in the park while La Caixa had 33,19%, Anheuser-Busch had 19,9% and FECSA had 6,7%. In 1998 the majority of Tussauds Group'shares in the park were sold to Universal and the park was rebranded as 'Universal's Port Aventura', which made it the first Universal Studios Theme Park in Europe.
In 2002, a water park and two hotels were constructed, and the resort was further rebranded as 'Universal Mediterranea'. In 2004, NBCUniversal sold all interest in PortAventura. It is owned and operated by La Caixa banking group's investment vehicle Criteria, but as of 2005 the Universal name has been dropped from the branding, and the resort was once again named 'PortAventura'. In 2009, the resort hosted 3,310,000 visitors.
In December 2013 KKR picks up 49.9% stake in PortAventura from Investindustrial that still owns 50.1%. In 2016 the resort was renamed as 'PortAventura World Parks & Resort'. The second theme park, Ferrari Land, was inaugurated on 7 April 2017.

PortAventura Park

The park features five theme areas based on civilizations, and one theme area based on Sesame Street. Mediterrània is the main entrance area of the park.
;Main rides
InvestIndustrial and Ferrari signed a deal to build a new area themed to the Italian sports car brand in the PortAventura resort covering 75,000 m2, including new rides, a 250-room hotel with restaurants, shops and car racing simulators. Ferrari Land is the resort's second theme park, separate from PortAventura Park. Its entrance is adjacent to PortAventura Park's main entrance. The Mediterranean theme is common to both entrances, as Ferrari Land is inspired by Italy, including recreations of Venice's Piazza San Marco and Rome's Colosseum. The main ride of Ferrari Land is a 112 m tall vertical accelerator coaster that surpassed Shambhala as the tallest coaster in Europe and is also the fastest coaster in Europe. The park was opened on 7 April 2017, after an investment of more than €100 million. Ferrari Land opened a kids area in 2018.
Ferrari Land is the second amusement centre themed to Ferrari in the world, after Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

Rides and attractions

Roller coasters

Flat rides

NameManufacturerHeightSpeedLengthLocationOpened
Kon-tiki WaveHUSS Park AttractionsPolynesia1995
Serpiente EmplumadaSchwarzkopfMéxico1995
YucatánMack Rides–13 revolutions per minuteMéxico1995
Hurakan CondorIntaminMéxico2005
Maranello Grand RaceC&S–Ferrari Land2017
Thrill TowersS&S Worldwide180 feet Ferrari Land2017
Street MissionSally Corporation, ETF–SésamoAventura2019

Water rides

NameManufacturerSpeedHeightLengthLocationOpened
Tutuki SplashIntaminPolynesia1995
Silver River FlumeMack RidesFar West1995
Grand Canyon RapidsIntamin–Far West1995
CanoesZamperla–Polynesia1995
AngkorMack Rides–China2014

Amusement rides using motion pictures

NameManufacturerHeightLengthLocationOpened
Dino Scape 4DThinkwell Group, Universal CreativePolynesia2000
Flying DreamsBrogentFerrari Land2017
Racing LegendsSimworxFerrari Land2017
Street MissionSally Corp, ETF Ride SystemsSésamoAventura2019

PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park

PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park is a water park which is adjacent to PortAventura Park. It has an area of 50,000 m2, which includes 16 attractions and slides, as well as over 8,500 m2 of water-covered surface area. It is themed to the Caribbean, with beaches, palm trees, and Latin and reggae music, and it also includes shops and restaurants.
The park has been closed due to the coronavirus outbreak and currently is remaining closed throughout 2020.

Rides

The resort features six thematic hotels:
During seasonal events like summer nights, Halloween and Christmas, PortAventura Park opens seasonal walkaround rides or shows, including the mazes: , Horror in Penitence, La Selva del Miedo and the nighttime Halloween show Horror en el Lago.