Amazingly it seems that the first steps to buying the land required to establish Gran Scala in Ontiñena (Aragon) have been taken. International Leaisure Development (ILD), the group behind the project, paid a 4% down-payment on the agreed land purchase price to secure the purchase rights on some 1,000 hectares of land (1 hectar being 10,000 meters square)

This land belonged to some 68 owners in total - one of the main issues that was said to be holding up the purchases being the number of different owners involved.

The actual final purchase price is agreed at 8,000 euro per hectar, and hence the rights sum a total of around 320,000 euros.The town council has another 1,300 hectars of land that it has made available to the group.

The next step will be for the Aragon government to approve a local law defining the requirements for major leisure centers, which effectively will be made to measure to determine the legal constraints on the Gran Scala project. It was expected that this law could be passed within a month, after which itr will have to be approved by the central Spanish government.

The anti-Gran Scala movement continuesd to protest againt the project. STOP GRAN SCALA as the group is known insists that the project is against EU regulations and that it would be an ecological disaster. There remain many serious questions to be answered about water requierements - Ontiñena is effectively in a dessert - and other effects the project would have on the environment.

Meanwhile however the political pressure remains in favour of the development and the need to generate jobs in an economic downturn added to the potential incomes that could be generated, naturally help to open doors in that respect.

What's clear is that 15 million toursits a year cannot turn up in a small town in the dessert without having some major impact.

Still, it has to be said that these are early days. 320,000 euros is not the 17 billion euros that the ILD has spoken of in the past, and a 4% downpayment is not a serious investment so far. But it is a sign of seriousness, and it's being taken seriously.