France and Saudi Arabia Seal €6 Billion Deal to Resurrect Iconic Mirapolis Site
France and Saudi Arabia have formally announced a six-billion-euro investment agreement to redevelop the long-dormant Mirapolis site north of Paris, according to reports, with the Élysée Palace backing a project that would see three new theme parks built on land that has sat largely unused for decades.
The deal, which has been in the works for some time, marks one of the most significant leisure and tourism investments in France in recent memory and underscores the growing appetite of Gulf sovereign wealth and state-linked entities to deploy capital into European entertainment infrastructure. Officials confirmed the agreement has now been formalised between the two governments, lending the project a degree of institutional weight that goes beyond a purely commercial transaction.
Mirapolis itself carries a certain nostalgic resonance in France. The original theme park opened in the mid-1980s on a large site in Cergy, northwest of Paris, and was intended to rival the likes of major European attractions. It struggled commercially, however, and closed in 1991 after only a few years of operation, leaving behind a sprawling plot that has since become something of a symbol of ambitious projects gone awry.
A New Chapter for a Forgotten Site
The new development would represent a dramatic reversal of that legacy. According to reports, the plans call for three separate parks to be constructed on the former site, though specific details regarding their themes, expected visitor capacities, and a precise construction timeline have not yet been made fully public. The scale of the investment — six billion euros — suggests a project of considerable ambition, one that could potentially rival established European destinations in terms of both scope and infrastructure.
From a French government perspective, the deal aligns with broader economic priorities around attracting foreign direct investment, boosting tourism, and creating employment in the greater Paris region. The Île-de-France area already hosts Disneyland Paris, Europe’s most visited theme park, and French authorities have long sought to diversify and expand the region’s leisure offering ahead of and following the momentum generated by the 2024 Paris Olympics.
For Saudi Arabia, the investment fits a wider pattern of cultural and leisure-focused spending abroad, complementing domestic efforts under Vision 2030 to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil revenues. Saudi state-linked entities have in recent years made high-profile moves into sport, entertainment, and tourism both at home and internationally, and the Mirapolis agreement adds a significant European dimension to that strategy.
The formalisation of the deal at the level of the Élysée signals that both sides are treating this as a strategic partnership rather than a routine commercial transaction. Analysts will be watching closely to see how quickly the project moves from announcement to groundbreaking, given the long history of large-scale leisure developments in Europe that have faced planning delays, financing complications, or shifts in market conditions before a single attraction opens its doors. For now, however, the agreement represents a notable moment of convergence between French industrial ambition and Gulf investment appetite on one of the country’s most storied abandoned sites.
