The International Leisure Development investment group is negotiating with the Spanish government and the regional government of Aragón for permission to build 5 theme parks, as well as 32 hotels and casinos on a 2,000 hectare plot right in the middle of Los Monegros desert on the border between the provinces of Huesca and Zaragoza.

The total cost of the scheme, which will create 30,000 new jobs, is estimated at 17 billion euros over a ten-year period.

The first theme park that would be built will be called 'Spyland', and will be located next to a water park.

The news has been met with surprise and expectation locally; Manuel Conte, who is the president of Los Monegros borough, said that the scheme would solve the "demographic problem" of the semi-deserted area where there is an average of just seven inhabitants per square kilometre, and where the local economy depends on its 80,000 hectares of irrigated farmland and thriving pig-farming sector.

The International Leisure Development group, that includes British, Australian, French as well as American investors, is forecasting that the new 'Gran Scala' complex, which would be the largest of its type in Europe, will attract 12 million tourists to the area each year.