Future of iconic Tivoli amusement park on Costa del Sol to be debated in Andalusian parliament

The future of the famous Tivoli amusement park, which closed its doors in Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol four years ago, will be debated in the Andalusian parliament.

It comes after a meeting last week between Benalmádena mayor Juan Antonio Lara and part of his government team with representatives of real estate group Tremón, owner of Tivoli.

The current municipal government team (Partido Popular), which came to power in May 2023, opened a new round of talks with Tremón, which the previous municipal government (Socialists and United Left) had already considered closed after claiming the company was blocking any progress. Little or nothing is known about the outcome of these new negotiations.

So far, the mayor has on several occasions pointed out that there are several companies and investment funds interested in reopening the park, and has also expressed his desire for Tivoli to be open before the end of the current mandate, in 2027.

Those words gave hope to former workers, although they are starting to get impatient and want to see action. On Sunday 6 October, for the first time, a public protest has been called at the gates of the amusement park to demand its reopening.

That triggered Por Andalucía to announce its intention to register before the Andalusian parliament "a battery of initiatives aimed at the reopening of Tivoli as an amusement park" and does so "based on the firm support of the demands of the staff and the social majority of Benalmádena".

This was announced on Tuesday 24 September by the group's spokesperson, Inmaculada Nieto, who met with union representatives of the former staff and later pointed out at the gates of the park that "Tivoli goes beyond the limits of Benalmádena and the province of Malaga, it is a strategic issue for tourism on the whole of the Costa del Sol and Andalucía".

"All the administrations are concerned with the reopening of Tivoli, including the Junta, so we demand that they sit at a table with the company and the representation of the staff to reach a solution and once again generate jobs and wealth," Nieto added.

"Tivoli belongs to the sentimental memory of several generations of people in Andalucía who, thanks to these facilities, was the first amusement park we had the chance to go to. This would be a profitable venture today. Legally there is no impediment to it being able to open its doors," Nieto also pointed out.

Several weeks ago, a movement was created on social media called 'Nostálgicos de Tivoli', which already has a virtual community of 8,600 people. The active community gathered a collection of signatures to bring to the Andalusian Parliament a question regarding the reopening of the park. A total of 757 people have signed the initiative.

Meanwhile, opposition in the town hall is asking for light to be shed on the meetings between the mayor and Tremón in order to know exactly what is being negotiated and where they are currently at. There will be a council meeting this Thursday 26 September with a question registered by the Socialists on the agenda.

IU-Podemos has also presented an urgent motion, in which, among other issues, it requests that any agreement with Tremón be made conditional on the prior opening of Tivoli and that a special informative commission be created to monitor negotiations so various groups represented in the town hall are aware of what is happening.