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Murcia opens its first 5-star hotel this week
The 70-room Royal Hideaway hotel will open during the Murcia Fair
Murcia is about to get something the city has never had before: its first five-star hotel.
The Palacio de San Juan, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, will open its doors on Wednesday September 9 following an €18 million transformation by Barceló and Grupo Fuertes. The historic building has been extensively renovated to create a 70-room luxury hotel in the heart of the city.
It won't quite be at full capacity from day one. The hotel will initially open with 55 rooms, with the remaining 15 being added gradually during September.
"We wanted to avoid being at full capacity and have a flexible opening," explained Gaspar Sáez, general manager of southern Spain and the Algarve at Barceló.
The timing is particularly useful, with the opening coinciding with the Murcia Fair. Twenty rooms have already been booked for the opening date and the hotel expects to reach around 80% occupancy during its first weekend.
Luxury comes with a hefty price tag, with rooms starting at around €300 per night, while the main suite could cost between €1,000 and €1,500. Mr Sáez acknowledged that the hotel will initially be somewhat flexible with pricing as it establishes itself, explaining, "we need to get the customer used to it."
Food and drink will be another major part of the new hotel's offering. A ground-floor restaurant will open alongside the hotel, with two-Michelin-starred chef Juanlu Fernández acting as consultant and creating a menu built around local Murcian produce.
Then, on September 16, Royal Heaven will open its terrace, described as being "very focused on the people of Murcia", offering somewhere to spend an afternoon with views of the Cathedral.
A third venue, La Barra de Ocra, is also planned in the adjoining premises. The more traditional restaurant will focus on tapas and will have its own terrace, with an opening expected towards the end of October or beginning of November.
The project has also created 70 direct jobs, equivalent to one employee per room. Mr Sáez said the hotel was an important investment for both companies, adding that "Murcia is in vogue."
Turning the former three-star hotel into a five-star property was far from straightforward, with the building's structure proving particularly challenging to stabilise. Construction alone cost around €12 million, with another €6 million spent on equipment and furnishings.
Tomás Fuertes, president of Grupo Fuertes, described the opening as "a great satisfaction", adding that "it will help to raise the level of quality tourism, which the Region needs to be able to grow at a good pace during the next 10 years."
Image: Barceló Hotel Group
Address
C/Regidor Cayetano Gago S/N 30100 Espinardo Murcia ESPANA Tel: (+34)968 368 200
Terra Natura Murcia, wildlife and adventure water park in the outskirts of the city of Murcia
Terra Natura Murcia is one of the most important and spectacular animal and nature parks in western Spain, and is one of a new generation of wildlife parks in which visitors can discover the concept of what's called "Zooinmersión."
The aim of this is recreate a habitat which gives an experience of being at one with the wildlife viewed in the park, so to this end more than 500 examples of 50 species of vegetation have been interplanted among the animal habitats, spread across an area occupying more than 165,000 square metres.
The planting has matured to create a comfortable and interesting environment which enhances the interaction between visitors and animals.
The planting not only softens the landscape, but also enables visitors to be closer to the animals and have direct human contact rather than the traditional forms of wildlife park where the animals are at a distance behind physical barriers.
The park contains over 500 animals belonging to 50 different species (some of which are in grave danger of extinction), alongside giraffes, lions, hippopotamus, lemurs, brown bears, Iberian lynx, Oryx, Iberian wolves and a White African Rhinoceros.
Throughout the year, Terra Natura Murcia offers different educational talks during visits to their facilities: giraffes, brown bears and otters.
One of the most popular areas is the falconry zone, where the displays enable visitors to discover the beauty of a great variety of birds such as the majestic flight of the peregrine falcon, which reaches diving speeds of over 300 km an hour, the eagle owl, various types of hawk, the griffon vulture and the buzzard eagle. One of the main aims of the park is to encourage contact and engage in interaction between animals and humans, and the falconry is a popular means of achieving this goal.
Among the mammals are Iberian and European Lynx, Mouflon and Coatis.
Aqua Natura Water park
During the summer Terra Natura opens Aqua Natura, the only water park in the Region of Murcia.
This is a refreshing and enjoyable way to cool down in the heat of summer, with swimming pools for adults and children, slides and shoots, kamikazes, lazy river, entertainment and games for youngsters, all within just a short distance of the centre of the city of Murcia.
Opening hours 2024
Terra Natura Murcia is open every day of the year except 1st January and 25th December.
The wildlife park opens at 10.00 in the morning, and during the summer (June 23rd to September 8th) it opens at 11.00.
The water park opens from May 25th to September 8th, at 11.00
Closing times are as follows:
January 2nd – March 15th: 17.00, except weekends in February and March (18.00).
March 16th – May 24th: 18.00, except weekends in April and May (19.00).
May 25th – June 16th: 19.00.
June 17th – September 8th: 20.00.
NB: During the summer special nocturnal tours and meals are available. See what's on section for latest promotions.
September 9th – September 15th: 19.00.
September 16th – October 25th: 18.00, except weekends in September and October (19.00).
October 28th – December 31st: 17.00, except weekends in November (18.00).
Details of daily activities can be found here: extra activities and special offers are regularly updated on Murcia Today.
Click here for online bookings
How to get there
Terra Natura is located in the northern outskirts of the city of Murcia in Espinardo, accessed via the A-7 motorway.
Address: Calle Regidor Cayetano Gago, 30100, Espinardo, Murcia
From the A-7 Murcia to Alicante, exit 136, Universidad de Murcia
From the Autovia A-7 Alicante to Murcia, exit 762b, Murcia centro
By Bus
From central Murcia. Bus line number 31 leaves from Plaza Cruz Roja via Gran Via and passes by the park, from Monday to Saturday every half hour and on Sunday every hour.
Line 39A, leaves from the railway station from Monday to Friday every 15 minutes
Line 39C leaves from Infante Juan Manuel (Pio Baroja) from Monday to Friday every 30 minutes.
