Poble Espanyol, a 90-year-old theme park in Barcelona, Spain, is admired by Michael Eisner, Disney chair and chief executive of 21 years.
“Eisner did an interview with a Barcelona newspaper and said that he always visits Poble Espanyol when he’s in Barcelona,” says Anton Vidal, director general of the Catalan attraction. “For him, it’s the first theme park in the world and it inspired Disney and the theme park concept. Now, theme parks of course are very different, but the concept was born here.”
Poble Espanyol was established for the 1929 Barcelona International Expo to show the world the Spanish way of living. The idea was to build a town using different architectural styles of the area, such as Roman, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque. The park’s creators visited 1,600 Iberian towns and villages looking for their inspiration. The site is also home to the Fran Daurel Museum, a contemporary art gallery with works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Míro and other famed Spanish artists.
Invest in the future Poble Espanyol escaped being demolished after the World Fair and grew to be one of Spain’s best-loved attractions, recording almost 2 million visits in 2017.
Though its aim is to immerse guests in an environment that’s true to history, Vidal says it was important to invest in the future success of the attraction.
A 10-year improvement plan costing more than €10m ($11.4m) has just been completed with the opening of its final phase, a €2.3m state-of-the-art multimedia experience designed to throw visitors right into the thronging crowds of a vivid, noisy, vibrant, traditional Spanish fiesta.
“These modern installations are designed to show how people live now in the five regions of Spain, and through this we hope to explain the ‘Spanish soul’,” says Vidal. “For the Fiesta zone, we recorded 180 hours of footage at nine different fiesta locations over a whole year to create this visual spectacular. With the sound of the fiesta all around them and surrounded by the 10-metre-tall 4K screens, visitors will feel as though they’re in the middle of the Sanfermines in Pamlona or the Tomatina in Buñol, for example.”
The state-of-the-art multimedia installations were handled by Mediapro and bring a “dynamic and didactic” element to Poble Espanyol that’s both engaging and capable of evoking emotions. Two further areas have also been completed: a welcome zone with interactive touch screen technology, which introduces visitors to the history of the attraction and helps them plan their visit; and the Feeling Spain zone, which takes visitors on a multi-sensory journey across Spain.
“We also did not want to introduce too much multimedia and technology because we don’t want to compromise the feel of the park,” says Vidal. “You could put multimedia attractions anywhere but you cannot build a town like this.”
Aside from the new investments, Vidal keeps people coming back to Poble Espanyol by working with different partners to host a varied offer of events, such as the OFFSonar electronic music festival, Barcelona Marionettes Festival, Rock and Grill Festival and Biergarten festival.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2018 issue 3
People profile: Anton Vidal
Anton Vidal is director general of Poble Espanyol which has completed a 10-year, €10m improvement plan
Interview: Coen Bertens
Fairytale theme park Efteling has
gone from strength to strength
during its 65-year history, enchanting
more visitors last year than
ever before. We talk to COO Coen
Bertens about its success
Promotional feature: EAS - Learning curves
This year’s Euro Attractions Show promises to
be the biggest in the history of the event, with
a brand new schedule of seminars to match
Aquariums: High Waters
We visited the brand new Aquatis
Aquarium-Vivarium in Switzerland
for a journey through our planet’s
freshwater environments
Promotional feature: nWave - The big picture
With more than two decades
of experience creating high quality
original content, nWave looks
ahead as it continues to produce
its own industry-leading creations
Analysis: TEA/AECOM Theme Index 2017
The TEA/AECOM Report 2017 shows major theme park
operators had an outstanding year, while stabilised global
economies and strong investment planning bodes well
for the global attractions industry going forward
Analysis: EMEA Focus
Margreet Papamichael, founder of CLEAR Associates about what The TEA/AECOM Report 2017 means for the EMEA region
Review: MuseumNext
Intellectuals from across the
museums sector gathered recently for
the European edition of MuseumNext
Theme parks: Playing the Looney Tune
As new and exciting leisure opportunities
increase in the Middle East, Yas
Island welcomes the US$1bn Warner
Bros World Abu Dhabi. We speak to
the two key members of the team
behind the landmark project
Museums: License to Thrill
A brand new James Bond visitor attraction,
nestled snugly inside a mountain peak
in Sölden, Austria, opened this July. We
talked to the operator and architect
Poble Espanyol, a 90-year-old theme park in Barcelona, Spain, is admired by Michael Eisner, Disney chair and chief executive of 21 years.
“Eisner did an interview with a Barcelona newspaper and said that he always visits Poble Espanyol when he’s in Barcelona,” says Anton Vidal, director general of the Catalan attraction. “For him, it’s the first theme park in the world and it inspired Disney and the theme park concept. Now, theme parks of course are very different, but the concept was born here.”
Poble Espanyol was established for the 1929 Barcelona International Expo to show the world the Spanish way of living. The idea was to build a town using different architectural styles of the area, such as Roman, Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque. The park’s creators visited 1,600 Iberian towns and villages looking for their inspiration. The site is also home to the Fran Daurel Museum, a contemporary art gallery with works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Míro and other famed Spanish artists.
Invest in the future Poble Espanyol escaped being demolished after the World Fair and grew to be one of Spain’s best-loved attractions, recording almost 2 million visits in 2017.
Though its aim is to immerse guests in an environment that’s true to history, Vidal says it was important to invest in the future success of the attraction.
A 10-year improvement plan costing more than €10m ($11.4m) has just been completed with the opening of its final phase, a €2.3m state-of-the-art multimedia experience designed to throw visitors right into the thronging crowds of a vivid, noisy, vibrant, traditional Spanish fiesta.
“These modern installations are designed to show how people live now in the five regions of Spain, and through this we hope to explain the ‘Spanish soul’,” says Vidal. “For the Fiesta zone, we recorded 180 hours of footage at nine different fiesta locations over a whole year to create this visual spectacular. With the sound of the fiesta all around them and surrounded by the 10-metre-tall 4K screens, visitors will feel as though they’re in the middle of the Sanfermines in Pamlona or the Tomatina in Buñol, for example.”
The state-of-the-art multimedia installations were handled by Mediapro and bring a “dynamic and didactic” element to Poble Espanyol that’s both engaging and capable of evoking emotions. Two further areas have also been completed: a welcome zone with interactive touch screen technology, which introduces visitors to the history of the attraction and helps them plan their visit; and the Feeling Spain zone, which takes visitors on a multi-sensory journey across Spain.
“We also did not want to introduce too much multimedia and technology because we don’t want to compromise the feel of the park,” says Vidal. “You could put multimedia attractions anywhere but you cannot build a town like this.”
Aside from the new investments, Vidal keeps people coming back to Poble Espanyol by working with different partners to host a varied offer of events, such as the OFFSonar electronic music festival, Barcelona Marionettes Festival, Rock and Grill Festival and Biergarten festival.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2018 issue 3
People profile: Anton Vidal
Anton Vidal is director general of Poble Espanyol which has completed a 10-year, €10m improvement plan
Interview: Coen Bertens
Fairytale theme park Efteling has
gone from strength to strength
during its 65-year history, enchanting
more visitors last year than
ever before. We talk to COO Coen
Bertens about its success
Promotional feature: EAS - Learning curves
This year’s Euro Attractions Show promises to
be the biggest in the history of the event, with
a brand new schedule of seminars to match
Aquariums: High Waters
We visited the brand new Aquatis
Aquarium-Vivarium in Switzerland
for a journey through our planet’s
freshwater environments
Promotional feature: nWave - The big picture
With more than two decades
of experience creating high quality
original content, nWave looks
ahead as it continues to produce
its own industry-leading creations
Analysis: TEA/AECOM Theme Index 2017
The TEA/AECOM Report 2017 shows major theme park
operators had an outstanding year, while stabilised global
economies and strong investment planning bodes well
for the global attractions industry going forward
Analysis: EMEA Focus
Margreet Papamichael, founder of CLEAR Associates about what The TEA/AECOM Report 2017 means for the EMEA region
Review: MuseumNext
Intellectuals from across the
museums sector gathered recently for
the European edition of MuseumNext
Theme parks: Playing the Looney Tune
As new and exciting leisure opportunities
increase in the Middle East, Yas
Island welcomes the US$1bn Warner
Bros World Abu Dhabi. We speak to
the two key members of the team
behind the landmark project
Museums: License to Thrill
A brand new James Bond visitor attraction,
nestled snugly inside a mountain peak
in Sölden, Austria, opened this July. We
talked to the operator and architect
London Museum will open four new food and drink destinations when it launches its new home
at Smithfield on 28 November, making hospitality a central part of the visitor experience at one
of the capital's biggest cultural openings of the year.
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
