El Sueño de Toledo opened last weekend as the sister site of the famous French Puy-du-Fou theme park in the Vendée (Pays-de-la-Loire), which has won accolades as “the best in the world”.

Located just outside the walled city of Toledo, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage listed site since 1986, the five-hectare theme park will feature historical re-enactments and performances to tell the story of 1500 years of Spanish history.

The show premiered on August 30th with a performance lasting one hour and ten minutes that involved more than 185 riders and actors on stage, and more than 2,000 characters and using special effects such as fountains, fireworks, light show and drones.

The shows involve 1,200 costumes, as well as 800 projectors, 60 water jets, and 28 Full HD video projectors performed to an audience of up to 4,000 spectators.

The park, an hour south of Madrid, has so far scheduled 15 live performances in the first season that runs until the end of October, but all 60,000 of the tickets released have already sold out and another performance has  been planned. 

El Sueno de Toledo is currently open on Fridays and Saturdays and tickets cost €24.

The group behind the theme park said that by 2028, more than 876 people will be employed at the site as well as the 2,400 new jobs created indirectly with the development and infrastructure of the site.

They hope that it will follow the success of Puy-du-Fou in France, which has become the second most-visited theme park in France after Disneyland Paris and attracts more than 2 million visitors each year.

Nicolas de Villiers, the president of the company behind the parks, said: “It is a common humanity that we cover in our shows, which creates real emotion whatever your culture [or history]. That is the strength of Puy-du-Fou, and this artistic signature that we have created. We are confident and supported by the Spanish, who are really looking forward to this show.”

In  2012, Puy-du-Fou France was voted the world’s best theme park by the American Themed Entertainment Association, beating 700 parks and shows in 40 countries to victory.

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