Spanish Theme Park History – Part 6: Isla Mágica & Terra Mítica

Today we’ll continue our series about the Spanish Theme Park History with the sixth article. Every two weeks we’re publishing one of eight articles about the history of thirteen Spanish amusement and theme parks. Some of them no longer exist, but some others are still operating and receiving guests nowadays. In this series, we travel in time through 168 years in theme park history, starting in 1853, to our days in 2021. In this article we’ll focus on Isla Mágica and Terra Mítica.

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Isla Mágica (Seville, 1997)

Isla Mágica, inaugurated in 1997, was the second theme park of Spain. It’s a small park in comparison to the major Spanish parks, for instance, it’s approximately 3 times smaller than PortAventura Park and half the size of Parque Warner. However, it offers six different well-themed areas (Sevilla – Puerto de Indias, Puerta de América, La Guarida de los Piratas, La Fuente de la Juventud, El Dorado and Amazonia), 2 roller coasters (Jaguar and El Tren del Potosí), 4 water rides (Los Bucaneros, Anaconda, Iguazú and Rápidos del Orinoco) and an interactive dark ride (Capitán Balas).

The park was built in the same place where the 1992 Universal Exposition of Seville (Expo ’92) was held, around the lagoon that was formerly part of the Spanish pavilion.

On opening day, the park’s main rides and attractions were Jaguar, an inverted SLC extended Vekoma coaster; Anaconda, a flume ride; Iguazú, an Intamin Splash; Rápidos del Orinoco, an Intamin Rapids Ride; and Carrusel Mágico, a 16th century merry-go-round.

During the years new rides have been added to the park such as El Desafío, a Maurer drop tower; Topetazú, a bumper cars track; Capitán Balas, an interactive dark ride; a 4D Cinema; and El Vuelo del Halcón, a highly themed Wave Swinger.

In 2014 a small water park was inaugurated: Agua Mágica. Despite it is like another themed area of the park a separate ticket is needed to enjoy it, although the only access to the water park is inside Isla Mágica park. Agua Mágica offers a variety of pools, slides, and a lazy river. During the years small attractions have been added to it.

Finally, the park also offers a great range of live shows, from impressive big theatre productions to nighttime spectaculars or street shows. Isla Mágica celebrates Halloween and Christmas seasonal events.

Terra Mítica (Benidorm, 2000)

Terra Mítica, inaugurated in 2000, is the third Spanish theme park. It is located in Benidorm, at the Valencian region of Spain. It is themed around the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, from Egypt to the Roman Empire and Greece. Formerly the park had two other areas: Las Islas and Iberia, which have been separated from the main park to become a second gate, a very controversial decision. The park has also been related to relevant corruption and fraud court cases.

On opening day, the park’s flagship ride was Magnus Colossus, a wooden coaster manufactured by Roller Coaster Corporation of America which, unfortunately, is closed indefinitely. Another relevant ride on opening day was El Vuelo del Fénix, a 56-meter-high Intamin giant free-fall tower.

In 2003, an agreement was reached for Paramount to manage the park, which became “Terra Mítica, A Paramount Park”. The same year the new Tizona roller coaster was inaugurated, which was later on relocated in 2009 to the Greece area and was renamed Titánide. The guest perception of Terra Mítica improved during 2003 and 2004, but the park didn’t reach the expected attendance goals of 3 million annual visitors and went into bankruptcy.

During the years new rides have been added to the park such as Inferno, an Intamin 4D Zacspin; Tornado, a Funtime Star Flyer; and Synkope, a Mondial Rides Revolution ride.

In 2013 the park was divided into 2 parks, Terra Mítica and Iberia Park, without adding any new attractions, Iberia Park was advertised as something new, and the ticket prices were increased. This decision was very controversial, and some guests felt deceived.

The 2019 season of the park was its last operational season, in 2020 Terra Mítica remained closed all the year. It’s expected that the park will reopen at some point in 2021, but no date has been announced. The future of Terra Mítica is clearly uncertain.

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