Hotel plan for old safari park
Before that, in July, it will play host to the Octopus Hardcore Festival, expected to attract up to 15,000 music fans to El Vergel
Luxury complex to be built within the next two years
A HUGE luxury hotel complex will go up on the site of El Vergel's old safari park within the next two years – but before then, the land will be used for major music festivals.
The landowners reportedly presented a project for a hotel resort to El Vergel council three years ago, but it is now expected to become a reality before the end of 2022.
According to the companies which jointly own the land, the buildings will not encroach on the natural countryside and will be high-rise rather than spread out, in order to occupy as little land as possible.
They say the complex will create between 200 and 500 jobs for locals.
Although the process is said to be 'moving at a fair pace', the developers still have some hurdles to jump before they can bring in the cement mixers – the plot needs to be included in El Vergel's future town layout plan, or PGOU.
As this is likely to take years, the owners are seeking a declaration of community interest (DIC) to allow them to go ahead before the next PGOU is published.
Meanwhile, the owners have struck a deal with the organisers of Cullera's nationally-famous Medusa Sunbeach Festival to stage a similar version in the safari park.
An international hardcore and hardstyle festival titled 'Octopus' is expected to attract up to 15,000 revellers a day.
These two musical styles 'have not really taken off in Spain the way they have in northern Europe', the landowners say, meaning the festival could attract visitors from abroad.
It will take place between July 17 and 20, and music fans can spend up to two days camping there.
The festival will include well-known global DJs and hardcore artists such as AniMe and Angerfist.
Plenty of work remains on the site before it can be used for anything, given that it is heavily overgrown, the owners say.
The old safari park, which shut down in 2010 after 37 years, is in a protected nature reserve area, which limits its potential use.
But the owners say they want to keep the look of it as much as possible.
“It's what we were looking for – something with a bit of a Jurassic Park theme,” they said.