Dragon Khan

When PortAventura Park opened on the Costa Daurada in 1995, Dragon Khan stood among its grand declarations of intent. Bolliger & Mabillard supplied a Sitting Coaster for Vila-Seca, Tarragona, giving the young park a large steel signature from its first season. bolliger-mabillard.com· coasterpedia.net

The achievement was not modest. With eight inversions, Dragon Khan held the world record for the most inversions on a roller coaster until Colossus opened at Thorpe Park in 2002. For the visitor crossing the park on a warm afternoon, it was proof that this new Spanish resort meant to be counted among Europe’s great pleasure grounds. coasterpedia.net· portaventuraworld.com

Its course gives the traveller a formal procession of steel: lift, descent, loop, roll, and corkscrew, all over a layout of 1,269.5 metres. The figures remain handsome in print — 45.1 metres high, 105 km/h, and eight inversions — but the larger fact is civic: Tarragona was given a coaster people could recognise from afar. coasterpedia.net· en.wikipedia.org

After three decades of service, the park undertook Dragon Khan’s most extensive maintenance work in January 2026, replacing the vertical loop and cobra roll with new pieces of the same shape. PortAventura later announced its return for the Easter season, a spring reopening for one of the resort’s most familiar machines. catalannews.com· media.portaventuraworld.com