Gran Canaria/Spain: Construction of Poema del Mar-Aquarium Officially Started

May 15, 2015 saw the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new aquarium “Poema del Mar”, the latest project of the Loro Parque Group and the Kiessling operator family in the port of Las Palmas. According to company president Wolfgang Kiessling, the 10,000 square meter large aquarium will be able to take up the challenge with competitors on a global scale. Moreover, this project marks the beginning of Loro Parque Group’s expansion on other islands. As already reported in EAP, issue 2/2015, the aquarium regards itself as a “window to the biodiversity of the world’s oceans” and will offer visitors unique insights into the depths of the seas. Highlights will include an artificial atoll, a piranha river and a large ocean area. According to vice-president Christoph Kiessling, the aquarium will be divided into three main areas: jungle, atoll and ocean. Furthermore, the Kiessling family wants their aquarium to serve as a role model in terms of environmental compatibility. To keep the energy consumption of the aquarium with more than 7,500 million liters of fresh and salt water to a minimum, a corresponding number of solar panels will be used to cover a large part of the electricity demand. Also the filters, sewage and desalination plants will use state-of-the-art technologies. Gran Canaria’s new aquarium is expected to be completed in two years. (eap)