Parque Warner faces staff losses

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Employees of Spanish leisure complex Parque Warner called a 24-hour protest on 5 November at the municipality of San Martin de la Vega, southeast of Madrid. The rally was called by the company's staff committee, made up of labour unions CCOO, UGT and USO. It aimed to protest against the forecast restructuring of the running of the park, which would put more than 30 jobs in jeopardy. A second protest was then held on 15 November, when workers gathered at the Assembly of Madrid.

Parque Warner is run by Candover-backed company Parque Reunidos, which agreed a 10-year management contract earlier this year.

Apparently, the company's committee has blamed Madrid's Government for the slashes, as it did not guarantee that jobs would be secured when it sold its majority shareholding to private investors.

The news that Parque Warner's management plans to make the company's operations leaner clashes with reports from a couple of months ago, when future plans for the company reportedly included the implementation of shops, hotels and a water park within its 600,000 square metres of land.

The company's shareholders - Fadesa holding a 73.8% stake, Caja Madrid which has 21.8% and El Corte Ingles with 4.4%, replaced the Government of the Community of Madrid at the end of 2006. It is understood that the agreement between the park's owners and Parques Reunidos at the time included a share purchase option, which can be used after five years of management.