Skip to main content

Move over Euro Disney, Ferrari Land coming to Spain in 2016

Apparently Disney isn’t the only company that gets to enjoy its own themed ‘World’ and ‘Land’ theme parks. Ferrari announced today that it sold the rights to build a “Ferrari Land” in the resort town of PortAventura, Spain.

Amazingly, a similar concept already exists. It’s called “Ferrari World” in Abu Dhabi. Areal pictures of the theme park, seen above, are rather frightening. It resembles gigantic red strange alien structure in the desert. I imagine it’s the kind of place a despotic dictator would build as an evil lair in, say, 2050.

The Ferrari Land will cost around $140 million to build and include the “highest and fastest-accelerating vertical ride of its kind, as well as a five-star hotel with 250 rooms, restaurants and a driving simulator,” according to Autocar.

“After the success of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, we received many, many requests to develop new amusement parks,” said Andrea Perrone Ferrari Brand Senior Vice President. “[This] is a very solid plan developed by competent people that will bring the magic of Ferrari to Spain, a nation where we have many supporters and enthusiasts, and to which large numbers of tourists flock each year.”

If you’re curious to know what sort of things might be included in Ferrari Land, we needn’t look further than Ferrari World. Built in 2010, Ferrari World boasts a collection of the most coveted Ferraris, a mini racetrack, and the then-world’s fastest rollercoaster.

I don’t know about you, but building $140 million supercar-themed amusement park in a country still deep in the grips of a great recession – where unemployment sits at 26 percent – seems like a sound investment to me.

Nick Jaynes
Nick Jaynes is the Automotive Editor for Digital Trends. He developed a passion for writing about cars working his way…
Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?
Kia Niro EV Charging Port

There's a lot of talk about the idea that the growth in electric car sales has kind of slowed a little. It's not all that surprising -- EVs are still expensive, early adopters all have one by now, and they're still new enough to where there aren't too many ultra-affordable used EVs available. But plenty of people still want a greener vehicle, and that has given rise to an explosion in hybrid vehicle sales.

That's especially true of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged like an EV and driven in all-electric mode for short distances, and have a gas engine as a backup for longer distances or to be used in combination with electric mode for more efficient driving.

Read more
EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says
ev drivers are not going back to gas cars global survey says screenshot

Nearly all current owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience, and 92% of them plan to buy another EV, according to a survey by the Global EV Drivers Alliance.

The survey of 23,000 EV drivers worldwide found that only 1% would return to a petrol or diesel car, while 4% would opt for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) if they had to replace their car.

Read more
Trump team in sync with Tesla on ending crash-reporting requirements, report says
Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The transition team of President-elect Donald Trump is planning to end existing car-crash reporting requirements to safety regulators, according to a Reuters report.

The report cites a document obtained by Reuters that lays out the transition team’s 100-day strategy for automotive policy. In the document, the team says the crash-reporting requirement leads to “excessive” data collection, Reuters says.

Read more