The Government of Navarra will not be able to recover EUR 79.4 million invested in Senda Viva
- Since its opening in 2001, the Government of Navarra has invested almost EUR 80 million in the amusement park of Navarra. This year it will contribute an additional 5.8 million and announces new investments for next year.
The Government of Navarre has always said that it was a strategic project for the country of Senda Viva and has invested heavily in the amusement park managed by a private project. The Culture Advisor, Rebeca Esnaola, has announced that the park needs 60,000 annual visits to prevent losses.
The Advisor does not specify what the investments are going to be made, but clarifies that they are going to be carried out mainly in the digital sphere, which are the ones currently carried out in the world of parks, “so that users can join in the greater emotional experience in the activity of the moment”.
Public money, private property
The House of Auditors of Navarra published the report on Senda Viva this month, at the request of EH Bildu. It details that since the opening of the amusement park in 2001 the Foral Government has contributed 79.4 million euros and the situation of the management company of the park, Parquenasa, makes it difficult for the government to recover this public money.
The report points out that the creation of the Parquenase involved the Sodena public society and four private members: Amusement Park Tourism and Recreational Activities International S.L. (with 25% of the capital), Grupo Corporacion Empresarial de la Caja Ahorra y Monte de Piedad de Navarra (15%), Construcciones Sanzol S.A. (10%) and Grupo La Información S.A. (5%).
According to the House of Auditors, in 2023 “in view of the lack of possibilities of selling the park, Sodena decided to delegate its actions to the public society Nicdo, which manages the sports company Arena and Baluarte. The sale took place in January of this year at a symbolic price of 1 euro. Since then, Nico has 45%, La Información 25.71%, Hiscan Patrimonio 17.86% and Pronaocio 17.86%”.
As a result, public money is now not allocated on loan but on direct grant, and this year the Department of Culture is planning a subsidy of 5.8 million for Parquenasa.
The House of Auditors is very critical of the legal character of Parquenasa and highlights its paradox: "It's a private company, because the public partner is in a minority, but the only one who brings money is the public partner."
And it goes on, “therefore, maintaining the character of private enterprise does not make much sense. Because it has an important continuous and infrastructural deficit and there is no way to get private funding. That is why the House of Auditors requires Parquenasa to become a public enterprise.”
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