Anyone who was lucky enough to be a child or teenager in May 1995 surely remembers that spring perfectly. Very close to Tarragona, between Salou and Vila-Seca, the first theme park in Spain was born. China, Mexico, Polynesia, the Mediterranean and the Far West formed a new world map of fun on a different scale, something that Mònica, a PortAventura World worker, also remembers perfectly from the day it opened its doors.
That was, really, another world -or many-. A thematic one. And as such, a new one. “There was no experience in theme parks in Spain. Getting the first park up and running was a challenge. We were pioneers,” recalls Mònica. One of her biggest concerns focused on the audience: “There was no one who had managed such large volumes of people by opening every day.” From that theme park, seasonalized in spring and summer, today a benchmark for family tourism is imposed that does not distinguish dates on the calendar.
Mònica knows a lot about this transformation, who went from working in a restaurant in those early stages of the park's history to the sales team. She knows the park like the back of her hand, and her companions. She is part of a human team diverse in origins, cultures, skills and ages. She eats in the canteen with the actors, with the financial director, with the colleague who operates the Dragon Khan or the one who runs one of the stores. “Not many jobs can give you this wealth,” she shares.
“The park and I have grown together,” explains Mònica. PortAventura World has seen how a family was formed, and Mònica has witnessed how the park also formed hers, growing, advancing, maturing. Consolidating direct and indirect jobs beyond “the season” and having a very positive impact on the area. “There are companies that invoice more than 90% thanks to PortAventura World.” Only then can it be more than a park: “It is a differentiating element of the Costa Daurada.”
From its beginnings, PortAventura was born with an important environmental awareness. As its sustainability director, Choni Fernández, explains, the park “was built in an area with a water shortage, hence rainwater collection and waste utilization systems were designed, unique at that time.”
From that embryo, “other layers” were created that ensure the sustainability of the park. A broad scenario of initiatives that form your strategic plan. Good governance, purchasing from suppliers, community support, etc. Among them, waste management stands out: “We are a zero waste resort. That means that we recover more than 90% of the waste we generate.” Or the activity of the PortAventura Foundation, where they work to promote inclusive leisure for vulnerable groups, especially sick children.
“Being a good company for the world,” Choni summarizes, is what has led PortAventura to look for top-level partners with which to advance its decarbonization objectives, which are ambitious. “When we proposed that we wanted to generate our own energy, we couldn't think of any other partner than Endesa,” shares the company's sustainability director.
From this 'tandem' comes PortAventura Solar, the largest photovoltaic plant in a holiday resort in Spain. “It is made up of 11,000 photovoltaic panels, 500 watts each, that occupy six hectares - about nine soccer fields,” explains Toni López, B2B manager of Endesa X in Catalonia. A display that injects energy and reduces emissions. “Today it represents 30% of the consumption of the entire resort, including hotels, and saves the emission of 4,000 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere,” he specifies.
And the remaining 70%? PortAventura World's decarbonization strategy is complemented by an energy contract with Guarantees of Renewable Origin with Endesa, its energy partner, and also with one of the largest private charging hubs for electric cars on the continent and the most prominent in the country, designed and installed by Endesa X Way.
Another of the characteristics of PortAventura Solar is its deep respect for the environment, minimizing the landscape impact to reduce its visual effect from the outside and “protecting both an Iberian site and a Roman site that have been found in the area during the works”, says Toni López.
“Here there was no more thematization possible than the landscape integration of the land we are on,” says Choni Fernández. To achieve this, in addition to the sites, the dry stone walls that shape the terraces that make up the land have been respected, an ancient construction system frequently used in the Catalan rural world. Within this space, an element of great ethnological interest has also been preserved: the shepherd's hut, a dry stone hut, an exponent of the typology of peasant huts built with the dry stone technique. “In addition, we have saved all the trees, some of them are part of the visual barrier built so that the plant is integrated and others have been transplanted to other areas of the resort,” explains the sustainability director.
If in the 90s PortAventura was a pioneer in the entertainment industry, almost 30 years later it continues to lead the way, this time at the forefront of sustainability. "We believe that PortAventura World has taken the initiative will take away fear from many other companies. It is very important that companies as renowned as the park take that step towards decarbonization," concludes Toni with the pride of having been a partner of the park in this new adventure.
