Paramount and Polaris included on list of millionaire tax debts in Spain

Businesses owned by the former leader of the Paramount project in Alhama feature heavily in the list of tax debtors

There is always a good deal of interest when the tax collection office of the Ministry of Hacienda in Spain publishes its annual list of those who owe more than a million euros in unpaid taxes, as the press scour the list for rich and famous individuals, but in the Region of Murcia this year the headlines in this respect are being made by a man who passed away three and a half years ago.

Jesús Sámper was a very well-known figure in Murcia, partly due to his being president and a major shareholder of Real Murcia football club for 15 years and also, among other things, as the man who headed the efforts to secure investment in the proposed Paramount theme park which was to be built in the municipality of Alhama de Murcia. Unfortunately neither of these two projects met with much success under his leadership: despite occasional successes Real Murcia slid down the divisions and further into debt, while Paramount eventually withdrew their interest in the Costa Cálida (click here for a chronicle of the rise and fall of the Paramount project in Alhama).

One of the most important tax debts in the Region of Murcia is owed by Sr Sámper´s company Desarrollos Nueva Condomina at precisely 18,139,912.54 euros, followed by Real Murcia at over 11.1 million euros, while Premursa, the company formed to promote the Paramount park, enters the list with 1.8 million euros.

The Polaris World-related company Suelos La Hita, which at one point had accumulated tax debts of over 64 million euros, is no longer on the list this year, but other members of the same group are still featured, including Polaris World itself (23.4 million euros, the highest figure in Murcia), Promociones La Hita (9.7 million) and Polaris Desarrollo (1.3 million).

In overall terms there are 6.7 more names on Hacienda’s list this year (4,028) than in 2018, although the amount they owe has fallen by 7.8 per cent to 14,100 million euros. The “winner” of the top spot is construction and real estate giant Reyal Urbis, whose debt to the taxman amounts to a staggering 353.2 million euros.

Image: Jesús Sámper addressing the press at a Paramount presentation in 2011 (copyright)

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