A new £24 million beach is set to open in Spain – despite being almost 200 miles from the sea.Alovera Beach, just 30 minutes from Madrid, will feature a huge 5.2-acre lagoon surrounded by 16,000 square metres of white sand, with the attraction expected to open in summer 2028.Billed as Europe’s largest urban beach, the complex will be built by artificial-lagoon specialist Crystal Lagoons and will require a €29 million (£24.3 million) investment.Visitors will be able to cool off in the lagoon, while a water park with slides and children’s pools, sports facilities and other attractions will offer plenty to do away from the coast. Holidaymakers could soon be sunning themselves on a stretch of sand by a spectacular blue lagoon in central Spain Construction of the lake and beach – billed as Europe’s biggest artificial beach – is set to open in 2028Plus, there will be a water sports school offering kayaking and paddleboarding, dining services and a beach club.The park is expected to have a €10 (£8.60) entry fee.The complex will be open year-round and is expected to receive around 350,000 visitors annually, according to Crystal Lagoons. The project is expected to create more than 300 jobs. Plans for the park were initially reported in 2022. Now, building work for the artificial beach in Guadalajara province has been given the green light, with all permits in place and an aimed end date in March 2028.The hope is for the project to open in summer 2028. The resort, which is set to have 1,000 parking spaces, is expected to be visited by around 250,000 people a yearIt will be easy to reach, within driving distance of Madrid and with more than 1,000 parking spaces, as well as intercity buses.Crystal Lagoons was the firm chosen to build the artificial beach, a company that was founded in 2007 by scientist and entrepreneur Fernando Fischmann.Its global expansion was prompted by the 2007 19-acre crystal clear lagoon at San Alfonso de Mar in Chile, which broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest man-made lagoon.It went on to break its own world record in 2015 with a new 30-acre lagoon at the Citystars Sharm El Sheikh development in Egypt.