PortAventura World is an entertainment

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

and

Vila-seca Vila-seca (; literally 'Dry-town') is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The historical name was ''Vila-seca de Solcina'' and since the 80's known as ''Vila-seca i Salou'' until Sa ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

, on the

Costa Daurada The Costa Daurada (; ; meaning in English language, English "Golden Coast") is an area on the coast of Catalonia, Spain, between Cunit and Alcanar on the Mediterranean Sea. Its traditional banks are the deltas of the Foix (river), Foix and Ebro ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was built around the

PortAventura Park PortAventura Park is a Amusement park, theme park located in the PortAventura World Resort, 85 km southwest of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the Municipalities of Spain, municipalities of Salou and Vila-seca, on the Costa Daurada. The park ...

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

, which attracts around 5.3 million visitors per year, making it the most visited theme park in

and the sixth most visited theme park in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In 2017, with the opening of a third park, Ferrari Land, the resort rebranded to PortAventura World, which manages all three theme parks, six hotels, a convention center, and an RV park.

Reus Airport Reus Airport (commonly known as Barcelona Reus or Barcelona South) is located by the beaches of Costa Daurada, equidistant in relation to the town of Constantí and the city of Reus and approximately from the city centre of Tarragona, in Catal ...

lies within 15-minute drive, and Barcelona Airport is within an hour. The train station ''Salou-Port Aventura'' is 750m from the resort entrance and features line R17 trains to Barcelona and Tarragona.

History

When

Port Aventura 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 5.3 million visitors per year, making it the ...

opened in 1995 in Salou,

The Tussauds Group The Tussauds Group was an entertainment company which is now a part of Merlin Entertainments. It was based in Poole, Dorset from where it managed a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions that included the Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legol ...

owned 40.0% of the park, while

La Caixa La Caixa (), also known as the "La Caixa" Foundation (), is a not-for-profit banking foundation based in Spain, with its headquarters in Barcelona since March 2025. Originally a savings bank (''caja''), it reorganized in the 2000s and 2010s: I ...

had 33.2%,

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

had 19.9%, and FECSA had 6.7%. In 1998, the majority of Tussauds Group's shares in the park were sold to

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

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 (''Costa Caribe'') and two hotels (''Hotel PortAventura'' and ''Hotel El Paso'') were constructed, and the resort was further rebranded as 'Universal Mediterranea'. In 2004,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

(Universal Studios' parent) sold all interest in PortAventura. It is owned and operated by

Banking Group's investment vehicle

Criteria Criterion (: criteria) may refer to: General * Criterion, Oregon, a historic unincorporated community in the United States * Criterion Place, a proposed skyscraper in West Yorkshire, England * Criterion Restaurant, in London, England * Criterion ...

, but as of 2005, the Universal name has been dropped from the branding, and the resort was once again named 'PortAventura' (the space in the name is deliberately left out for trademark reasons). In 2009, the resort hosted 3,310,000 visitors. In December 2013,

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm

KKR KKR may refer to: * KKR & Co., a global investment firm *Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League franchise * Rheinsberg Nuclear Power Plant (), first nuclear power plant in the former East Germany * Kalkara, Malta, postal code KKR *Kir-Bala ...

picked up a 49.9% stake in PortAventura from Investindustrial, which still owned 50.1%. In 2016, the resort was renamed 'PortAventura World Parks & Resort'. The second theme park, Ferrari Land, was inaugurated on April 7, 2017. PortAventura Dream Village, opened in 2017.

PortAventura Park

The park features five theme areas based on civilizations (Mediterrània, Far West, México, China and Polynesia), and one theme area based on

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

. Mediterrània is the main entrance area of the park. ;Main rides *

Furius Baco Furius Baco is a hydraulically launched steel roller coaster located at PortAventura Park in the resort PortAventura World, Salou, Catalonia, Spain. Manufactured by Intamin, the ride opened on June 5, 2007 as the fastest roller coaster in Euro ...

, an

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing Amusement ride, thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other e ...

Accelerator Coaster An Accelerator Coaster is a hydraulically launched roller coaster model from Intamin. The model usually consists of a long, straight launch track, a ''top hat'' tower element, and magnetic brakes that smoothly stop the train without making con ...

with winged seating, which opened in June 2007. It has a top speed of 83.9 mph (135 km/h). *

Stampida Stampida is a Dual-tracked roller coaster, racing wooden roller coaster at PortAventura Park in Salou and Vila-seca, Catalonia, Spain. Designed by John Wardley, Dennish McNulty, and Larry Bill, the ride opened in 1997 and was built by Custom Coas ...

, a dueling

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...

. * Tomahawk, a junior version of Stampida and which runs parallel to it. * Silver River Flume, a traditional

log flume A log flume or lumber flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Loggi ...

. * Grand Canyon Rapids, a whitewater

river rapids ride A river rapids ride (or river rafting ride) is an amusement ride that simulates whitewater rafting. History The river rapids ride concept was proposed by Bill Crandall (general manager of Six Flags AstroWorld, AstroWorld in Houston) and develop ...

along the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

. * Hurakan Condor, an Intamin

drop tower A drop tower is a type of amusement park ride incorporating a central tower structure with one or more gondolas attached. In a typical modern configuration, each gondola carrying riders is lifted to the top of the tower and then released t ...

ride. This ride is one of the tallest in the world at 330 ft. * El Diablo – Tren de la Mina, an

Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (19 ...

mine train roller coaster A mine train roller coaster is a steel roller coaster whose trains often depict a set of mine carts, with the forward-most car or portions of it sometimes resembling a small steam locomotive. Most mine train roller coasters are themed in the sty ...

. The top speed of the coaster is around 60 km/h. * Dragon Khan, with 8 inversions this formerly held the record as having more inversions than any other

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

. It also held the world record for the tallest vertical loop on any roller-coaster. The ride built by Bolliger & Mabillard was one of the two roller coasters that Port Aventura had when it opened. It consistently ranks among the world's best roller coasters in polls. *

Shambhala Shambhala (, ),Śambhala m. (also written Sambhala): Name of a town (situated between the Rathaprā and Ganges, and identified by some with Sambhal in Moradabad; the town or district of Śambhala is fabled to be the place where Kalki, the last ...

, this B&M

hypercoaster A hypercoaster is a roller coaster with a height or drop measuring at least . The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point in 1989 with the opening of the world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, which features a height of . Th ...

beat three European records as it was the fastest (134 km/h) and tallest roller coaster in Europe. It is 76 m tall and had longest drop in Europe at 78 m (2 m underground). * Angkor, a large splash battle themed in the

Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...

ruins that opened in 2014. *

Tutuki Splash Tutuki Splash is a water ride, opened in 1995 at PortAventura Park in the resort PortAventura World, Salou, Spain. It is located on an artificial volcano in the Polynesia section of the park. The ride begins with a slow, gentle river, followed ...

, a

Shoot the Chute Shoot the chute is a water-based amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume, which generally seats up to eight passengers, a modern-day shoot the chute ride gene ...

themed along an erupting volcano. * Tami Tami, a roller coaster for children. * Street Mission, an interactive Sesame Street dark ride.

Ferrari Land

InvestIndustrial and

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

signed a deal to build a new area themed to the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

sports car brand in the PortAventura resort covering 60,000 m2, including new rides, restaurants, shops and car racing simulators. Ferrari Land is the resort's second theme park, separate from PortAventura Park. The park was opened on 7 April 2017, after an investment of more than

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

100 million. 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 Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Piazza San Marco Piazza San Marco (; ), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal Town Square, public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as ''la Piazza'' ("the Square"). The Piazzetta ("little Piazza/Square") is an ext ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

. The main ride of Ferrari Land is Red Force, a 112 m tall vertical accelerator coaster that surpassed

as the tallest coaster in Europe and is also the fastest coaster in Europe. 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 Ferrari World Abu Dhabi () is a mostly indoors theme park located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is the world's first Ferrari-themed park and is the home of Formula Rossa, which has held the record for the world’s fastest ...

Partial list of rides and attractions

Roller coasters

File:Furius baco.jpg,

File:Vertical Accelerator.jpg, Red Force

Flat rides

Water rides

Amusement rides using motion pictures

PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park

PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park is a

water park A water park (also waterpark, water world, or aquapark) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming ...

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 The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, with beaches, palm trees, and Latin and reggae music, and it also includes shops and restaurants.

Rides

* King Khajuna – Europe's tallest free-fall slide of 31 meters and 55-degree descent by

ProSlide ProSlide Technology, Inc. is a Canadian designer and manufacturer of water rides and water park resorts. They design and manufacture both traditional slides and innovative rides such as water coasters, funnel-shaped Tornado slides, and Bowl sli ...

. Opened in 2013. * Ciclón Tropical – MultiBUMP slide by ProSlide opened in 2013. * Rapid Race – ProSlide ProRacer opened in 2013. * The Mambo and Limbo – Two corkscrew waterslides by ProSlide. Opened in 2002. * El Tifón – Two ProSlide body waterslides opened in 2002. * El Río Loco – Lazy River opened in 2002. * El Torrente – A ProSlide Mammoth river with four-passenger round tubes, opened in 2002. * Barracudas – A pair of ProSlide tube chutes with two-passenger inline tubes, opened in 2002.

Kids rides

* Zona Indoor with Junior Slides – Indoor play area including pool and slides by

WhiteWater West WhiteWater is a manufacturing company based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1980 and manufactures a variety of products for water parks including water slides and water play areas. The company also owns FlowRider, wh ...

. Opened in 2002. * La Laguna de Woody –

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

-themed play area by WhiteWater West. Opened in 2002.

Resort hotels

The resort features six themed hotels: * PortAventura Hotel PortAventura: Mediterranean theme (4*) * PortAventura Hotel Caribe: Caribbean theme (4*) * PortAventura Hotel El Paso: Mexican theme (4*) * PortAventura Hotel Gold River (including 'The Callaghan's'): Western theme (4*) * PortAventura Hotel Colorado Creek: Rustic Western theme (4*) * PortAventura Hotel Mansión de Lucy: Victorian-style Western theme (5*) The resort also features four off-property hotels operated by their own brand, Ponient Hotels, which also include free-transfers to the park. These are: * Ponient Vila Centric by PortAventura World (4*) * Ponient Píramide Salou by PortAventura World (4*) * Ponient Dorada Palace by PortAventura World (4*) * Ponient Marinada by PortAventura World (4*)

Seasonal events

During seasonal events like summer nights, Halloween (September to November) and Christmas (November to January), PortAventura Park opens seasonal walk around rides or shows, including the mazes: EC Horror in Penitence, La Selva del Miedo and the nighttime Halloween show Horror en el Lago.

References

External links

*
– Official English site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portaventura Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies CategorY:1995 establishments in Spain