Saudi Arabia to invest €6 billion in massive theme park complex near Paris

Saudi Arabia will spend €6 billion to build a massive entertainment complex featuring three theme parks near Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced.

Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed an agreement on Monday at the Élysée Palace, formalizing the deal to build what the French leader described as "a new global destination." The project is expected to create 22,000 jobs, according to Macron.

Beyond the theme parks themselves, the sprawling development will also include hotels, catering facilities, and housing for young workers and students, Macron said. The site chosen for the complex is the former location of Mirapolis, a once-popular theme park north of Paris that has stood shuttered since 1991.

Among the attractions planned is a park centered around manga, reflecting growing interest in Japanese pop culture among European audiences. 

Further details on the remaining two parks, as well as a construction timeline, have yet to be disclosed.

The deal marks one of the largest foreign investments in French tourism infrastructure in recent years and underscores Saudi Arabia's continued push to diversify its economic interests abroad, alongside its own ambitious domestic entertainment and tourism projects under the kingdom's Vision 2030 plan.