New Malaga amusement park to open next to Plaza Mayor just in time for Christmas

Given how close the opening date is to Christmas, the park is likely to open with a festive theme.

The park was built over a period of just over a year on a site to the east of Plaza Mayor, next to the Porcelanosa shop, the motorway and two fast-food restaurants. It covers 21,000 square metres and, in addition to dozens of attractions (a merry-go-round, two rollercoasters, a grasshopper ride, bumper cars, a pond with boats, a children's freefall ride and flying chairs), it features a 2,500-metre mini-golf course; Malaga's largest bowling alley, with around 20 lanes; a sports bar; a ball pit; a market; and around ten food trucks.

It will also have a car park with 200 spaces. Entry to the site will be free of charge and visitors will pay for each attraction they use via a rechargeable prepaid card or a mobile app.

This is Sould Park's most ambitious project to date. The Fuengirola-based company runs several of bowling alleys and children's amusement centres throughout Spain. Its aim is to attract three million visitors a year, aided by its strategic location next to the Plaza Mayor shopping centre.

It will provide employment for up to 70 staff, according to estimates by Miguel Ángel Notario, the owner of Sould Park.

Budgets, like timeframes, also tend to grow. This has certainly been the case with this park: it was initially estimated at 15 million and will end up costing 24 million euros.

"We are currently in the middle of assembling the rollercoaster, which is being shipped from Italy in 20 containers by sea," Notario told Sur.

The food truck area will feature nine stalls offering a varied selection of food: pizza, Asian cuisine, burgers, cheesecakes, açai bowls, hot dogs, kebabs and two American chains that will be "a first for Spain", according to the organisers, who are not yet able to reveal any further details.

The park will be open every day of the year, with opening hours varying by area and depending on whether it is a weekday, weekend or during the summer.

To streamline operations and avoid the use of cash, all payments can be made using a Sould Park prepaid card, which can be topped up at the ticket offices and cash machines on the premises. This is the same payment and loyalty scheme that the company uses at all its leisure centres. The card can also be used to pay for food and drink.

Sould Park is a holding company comprising businesses specialising in children's and family entertainment. Founded 30 years ago in Catalonia by Miguel Ángel Notario, it moved its headquarters to Fuengirola in 2017 and, from there, has experienced strong growth in recent years. Its turnover in 2024 was 32 million euros.

It operates leisure and amusement parks, bowling alleys and trampoline centres throughout Spain and Portugal: ranging from the small attractions inside many shopping centres to venues covering several thousand square metres, such as the one next to Fuengirola's marina or the one at the Miramar shopping centre.

Sould Park employs more than 500 people across all its divisions: amusement parks, trampolines, bowling alleys, arcades and the installation of machines and attractions in shopping centres. "Sould Park covers a total area of almost 56,000 square metres, which is equivalent to seven Camp Nou stadiums," its corporate info states.

Miguel Ángel Notario was a fairground operator, like the rest of his family, but at the age of 19 he decided to give up his nomadic lifestyle and set up a permanent collection of attractions on a piece of wasteland in Barcelona.

His fortunes changed when the manager of a nearby shopping centre suggested he move his small fair onto the premises. That's when he realised the business opportunity that lay in setting up children's amusement parks inside shopping centres. Building on this, over the course of 30 years he has built up a veritable empire of family entertainment.

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