PortAventura is a theme park and a resort in Salou, Catalonia, Spain; on the Costa Daurada (Golden Coast), approximately an hour drive south-west of Barcelona. It attracts around 3 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in Spain. PortAventura Park is also the 6th most visited theme park in Europe. The resort also includes PortAventura Aquatic Park and four hotels. It is th
e biggest resort in the south of Europe. It has 2 airports within 30 minutes of it, including Reus Airport. There is a train station for PortAventura which has connections to Barcelona and Salou. It was conceived and built as a joint effort by the Tussauds group (Alton Towers), Anheuser-Busch and Universal Studios. In 1997, Universal bought up most shares in the park and the park was rebranded as 'Universal's Port Aventura'. In 2000, two hotels and a water park (Costa Caribe) were constructed, and the resort was further rebranded as 'Universal Mediterranea'. In 2004, NBC Universal (Universal Studios' parent) sold all interest in PortAventura. It is now owned and operated by La Caixa banking group's investment vehicle Criteria, but as of 2005 the Universal name has been dropped from the branding, and the resort was once again named 'PortAventura'.
