Wanda denies dispute over prime Madrid real estate project

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group said on Thursday that it had not pulled out of a multimillion euro skyscraper renovation project in central Madrid.

In a statement, Wanda said Spanish media reports about rising tensions between Wanda chief Wang Jianlin and the mayor of Madrid Manuela Carmena had put a question mark on the plans to convert the landmark building in the Spanish capital into a luxury hotel and shopping mall.

Last week, frictions between the two parties had escalated after Spanish website El Periodista Digital said that Wang was upset after the Madrid government officials had "treated him like a dog".

"I have never been treated as badly by anyone in my entire life", the Spanish website quoted him as saying to his negotiation team in Madrid.

This morning, the company published a news release denying the comments and reports that it was planning to sell the building.

"Wanda's chairman Wang Jianlin has never made such comments," said the statement, adding that "the company will now conduct a new comprehensive assessment of the Edificio Espana project."

Earlier on Tuesday, Mayor Carmena confirmed that Wanda was not withdrawing from the Madrid project.

"I think Wanda Group is reflecting on the conversations and proposals that we have had recently," said Carmena during a news conference. "The city is interested in doing everything possible to allow a hotel to be built."

Since the approval of the project, the two parties have disagreed on the future of the building because Madrid authorities refused to allow the Chinese property developer to dismantle the facade of the protected landmark.

Wanda had reportedly made changes this week to its delegation in Spain to reduce tensions with local officials, amid plans to keep expanding its property empire in the Mediterranean country.

The Chinese conglomerate is currently in talks with Spanish hospitality group Villa Padierna to purchase land next to the coastal city of Marbella, in southern Spain, to build a large luxury seaside resort that would also include a shopping mall, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Wanda could also be willing to spend 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to purchase a majority stake in the holiday complex Marina d'Or in the eastern province of Castellon, on the Mediterranean coast.

The high-end resort features 15,000 apartments, a golf course, five hotels, a theme park and a spa.

"Wang Jianlin declared in the past that he intended to invest 3 billion euros in Spain (through various projects in the real estate and leisure sectors) in the next two years", explained Ivana Casaburi, Director of the ESADE China Europe Club, an association of Chinese companies investing in Europe promoted by Spanish business school ESADE.

The group's aspiration is to develop hospitality projects for China's middle class, developing luxury complexes adapted to the needs of Chinese travelers, and therefore, more attractive for these type of consumers than resorts managed by Western brands, added Casaburi.

Hu Yuanyuan contributed to this story.

emmagonzalez@chinadaily.com.cn