Saudi Arabia's €6 Billion Manga Parks Bet: Macron's Disneyland-Scale Gamble

Folks, let's cut through the noise. On Monday, August 24, 2026, France and Saudi Arabia signed a deal to drop €6 billion ($7 billion) into three manga-themed amusement parks just northwest of Paris. The Elysee Palace announced the agreement during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's two-day state visit, and the anchor tenant is none other than Dragon Ball Z. This is a hard-nosed story about Gulf capital, European desperation for jobs, and a lame-duck president swinging for the fences — on a plot of land with a cautionary history we cannot ignore.

The agreement was signed between French Economy Minister Roland Lescure and Abdullah Al Dawood, Director General of Qiddiya, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). President Emmanuel Macron took to X with trademark bravado: "We're not done surprising the world. Very proud of this achievement." He followed with a note on his passion for manga and his determination to attract job-creating investment. But be clear-eyed: this is a political Hail Mary as much as an economic development project — a legacy play in anime branding, eight months before an election Macron cannot contest.

A Deal Years in the Making, Sealed in Riyadh and Paris

This didn't happen overnight. Macron's office confirmed the plan was first discussed with MBS during a visit to Riyadh in December 2024. From March 2025 onward, Macron's advisers and Qiddiya Investment Company — which opened a Paris office last year — hammered out the specifics. The result: a project slated for Cergy-Pontoise, about 30 kilometers northwest of Paris in the Val-d'Oise department, chosen for its proximity to the capital and to Disneyland Paris.

The investment is staggering: €6 billion, or roughly $7 billion, for three parks. The Elysee claims it will create around 22,000 direct jobs — more than the roughly 20,000 generated by Disneyland Paris, the benchmark for theme park employment in Europe. Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France regional council, told TF1 the project is "on the scale of Disneyland" and said her government had been working on it for 18 months.

But here is where I get skeptical. There is no opening date, and construction is expected to take several years. The only concrete theme confirmed is Dragon Ball Z, per Le Figaro and Macron's office. No timeline, no detailed site plans — just a handshake and a press release. In mega-projects, that is a red flag.

The Ghost of Mirapolis: A Saudi-Funded Failure on the Same Soil

Now, the ghost in the park. The Cergy-Pontoise area once housed Mirapolis, France's first theme park, opened in 1987 — funded, here's the kicker, with private Saudi money. Designed to showcase French literature, it closed roughly 35 years ago. The irony is thick enough to cut.

So we have Saudi money returning to the exact region where a Saudi-funded park went bust decades ago. The difference this time is the intellectual property: Dragon Ball Z is a global juggernaut with a cross-generational fanbase. Mirapolis failed on execution, location logistics, and market saturation, not on theme. The demographics have changed, and the appetite for Japanese pop culture is undeniable — but the ghosts of 1987 should give investors pause.

The French government is betting that pop culture appeal overcomes the historical curse, and that the Saudi PIF, with its deep pockets and Vision 2030 ambitions, has the patience the 1980s investors lacked. Qiddiya is building a mega-tourism project near Riyadh that includes the world's first Dragon Ball theme park, spanning more than 500,000 square meters. They are not amateurs — and not philanthropists either.

Macron's Manga Diplomacy and the Lame-Duck Calculus

Let's be honest about the politics. Macron is a self-professed manga fan who has used that affinity to bond with MBS — on his third visit to France after trips in 2022 and 2023, and his first international trip since the August 7 signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, the mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan.

On Sunday evening, Macron and MBS attended the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup in Paris — the first time that tournament was held outside Saudi Arabia. Macron is positioning France as the gateway for Gulf investment in Europe, using pop culture as the bridge. But with the election looming, this is about legacy: a president who cannot run again, remembered as the man who brought home the bacon, even if the bacon is shaped like Goku.

The opposition will have a field day. The news lands roughly eight months before a presidential election dominated by high public debt and low purchasing power. The government will argue these are private Saudi funds, not French taxpayer money — technically true. But the jobs promise is the political lifeline, and if those 22,000 jobs don't materialize quickly, this becomes a political albatross.

The Iran War Shadow: Energy Routes and Strategic Realignment

And the geopolitical context matters here. The visit's agenda was otherwise dominated by fallout from the Iran-US war, including energy routes bypassing the Strait of Hormuz — new pipelines, capacity upgrades, alternative ports. The theme parks are the shiny distraction; the energy security is the substance.

In 2024, France exported $4.5 billion of goods to Saudi Arabia and imported $4.6 billion, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. Refined petroleum accounted for 72% of Saudi Arabia's exports to France in 2024 — a massive dependency. With the Iran war throwing global energy markets into chaos, France is scrambling to secure supply lines that do not rely on Hormuz. The agreements expected on health, transport, and energy are the real deliverables of this visit.

The manga parks are a symbol of soft power; the pipelines are the hard power. Saudi Arabia is diversifying under Vision 2030, and France is desperate for investment. The synergy is real but transactional: MBS is not building parks out of love for anime — he is buying influence and moving sovereign wealth away from oil. France is selling its brand and its location. A marriage of convenience, not a love story.

Qiddiya's Global Ambitions and the Disneyland Benchmark

Now look at the other side of the table. Qiddiya is not a fly-by-night operation. A subsidiary of the PIF — the engine of Saudi Arabia's economic transformation — it is building a mega-tourism project near Riyadh that will dwarf anything in the region. A Paris outpost is a statement of intent: not just parks, but a global entertainment empire.

The scale is described as not seen since Disneyland Paris, which welcomes some 16 million visitors a year. To match that, these three parks must be a destination, not a day trip. The proximity to Disneyland is a double-edged sword — a tourism corridor or cannibalized visitors. The Saudi side was attracted by it, which suggests they see it as a complementary draw.

But manage expectations. Disneyland Paris took years to become profitable and faced its own struggles. French labor laws, unions, and bureaucracy are hurdles Qiddiya will have to navigate. The 22,000 direct jobs promise is ambitious, and the history of French mega-projects is littered with delays and cost overruns. I want this to succeed — but I need to see the business plan, not just the press release.

The Dragon Ball Factor: Intellectual Property as Economic Engine

The centerpiece is the Dragon Ball Z franchise — not a niche property but a global phenomenon worth billions across manga, anime, video games, and merchandise. The world's first Dragon Ball theme park is being built in Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia; now France gets its own version.

Macron's office confirmed Dragon Ball will be one of the themes, but without a time frame. Is it a full park dedicated to the franchise, or just one zone? The Le Figaro report suggests one park is likely to be dedicated to Dragon Ball, but "likely" is not "confirmed." For a project of this magnitude, those unsettled details matter.

The cultural significance cannot be overstated. France has a deep love affair with Japanese pop culture, and manga sales in the country are among the highest in Europe. Mirapolis was a lesson in cultural mismatch; this is the opposite — the culture is already here, and the capital is ready. The only missing piece is the will to see it through.

What Happens Next: The Long Road to Construction

The agreement is signed, but the work is just beginning. No opening date has been set, and construction will take several years. Next come zoning approvals, environmental impact studies, and infrastructure development. The groundwork is laid — but the heavy lifting is ahead.

The political calendar is a ticking clock. The French presidential election is roughly eight months away, and a new government will inherit this project. If Macron's party loses, will the next administration honor the deal? Contracts are signed, but governments can delay or renegotiate. The Saudi side will watch the political winds closely. MBS owns a chateau near Paris, and this was a rare official trip abroad for him — he is invested, literally and figuratively.

The bottom line, folks: this is a bold bet that could reshape the European theme park landscape, bringing billions in investment and the promise of tens of thousands of jobs. But it is a gamble on a site with a history of failure, a political timeline in flux, and a global economy in turmoil. I'm not here to cheerlead or doom-and-gloom. The money is real. The jobs are promised. The history is cautionary. And the future is unwritten — we will be watching every step of the way.

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera, The National, France 24, Deadline.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer