22 Jan 2019 Puy du Fou España to generate €200m in economic impact by 2021 By Luke Cloherty
Puy du Fou España will open in Q3 of this year with a bold programme of original show creations
French historic theme park Puy du Fou’s forthcoming Spanish site – located in Toledo, near Madrid – is set to open this year and the people behind it have made a number of bold forecasts for its potential success.
A total budget of €242m (US$275.1m, £213.2m) has been designated to the construction of the park for the period 2017-2028, to be deployed incrementally with the bulk allocated until 2021.
That money is being spent in part with a view to creating a huge economic impact for the Toledo region, with the park forecasting that in 2019 and 2020 it will reach €50m (US$56.8m, £44m) per year, then €200m (US$227.3m, £176.2m) in 2021 and €330m (US$375.1m £290.7m) by 2028.
Puy du Fou España will open in Q3 of this year with a bold programme of original show creations. The opening night will feature a huge show production, which will cater for 4,000 guests over a 70-minute duration.
The show will use 28 HD video projectors, 800 total projectors and 60 fountains and will trawl through 1,500 years of Spanish history from the Visigoths through to the invention of rail transportation.
2019 will see 15 performances in total, using 185 actors and horse riders at Puy du Fou España.
In 2021, the Grand Park will open fully, stretching to 30 hectares (74 acres). The park will then host four shows per day, 3 of which will be indoors, for between 2,000-4,000 spectators per show for 30-minute durations.
The Grand Park will feature three villages when it opens – a large, medieval Castilian village extending over 3,500sq m (37,674sq ft), a Moorish-style period village and an artisan village.
Toledo has been chosen as the location for the park due to its historical validity– it's a Unesco World Heritage Site; its geographical location – just 55 minutes from Madrid; and its tourism potential – Toledo draws in several million visitors per year, 77 per cent of whom are Spanish.
