Long-touted plans for a Paramount theme park in Spain appear to have finally collapsed after the High Court of Murcia ruled the project to be illegal, according to local reports.

In 2012, a law modifying boundaries of the regional park of Sierra de Carrascoy was annulled. This meant that around a fifth of the land acquired for the Paramount project acquired at a cost of €15m (US$16.8m, £13.2m) in 2010 designated as for agricultural use only.

Following a legal dispute from Ecologistas en Acción – a confederation of more than 300 environmental groups from across Spain – the court ruled that the project was illegal on the grounds that it was encroaching on Sierra de Carrascoy.

As a result of the ruling, the land on which Paramount Murcia would have been built now reverts to being “non-developable”, as the recategorisation of the area was applicable only for the construction of a theme park.

Jesús Samper, the figurehead of the Paramount plan and president of Real Murcia football club, died in late 2015 aged 65. Prior to his death, Samper’s company Premursa was struggling to secure financial commitment from investors on the project.

In an attempt to push the project through, Spain’s government became involved, with then Spanish secretary of state for commerce, Jaime Garcia-Legaz, helping to seek further European backing on the project. Premursa however still failed to secure any private investment in the venture.

The €1bn (US$1.1bn, £881m) project – which first surfaced in 2010 when then regional minister for tourism Pedro Cruz revealed the plans – was to include condos, office buildings, hotels, malls, a casino, a convention centre, gardens, nightlife and dining areas, an exhibition hall/auditorium and the theme park itself divided into several sections.

Attractions Management contacted both Paramount and the local authority for comment.

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