Near Valencia, an unfinished construction project comprising 53 houses is languishing, but the site is now becoming the venue for airsoft games.
One of the most iconic maps from Call of Duty: Black Ops is probably Nuketown – an American suburban settlement modeled after a nuclear weapons testing site and, accordingly, pretty deserted. The map has appeared in several titles in the series and is now burned into the minds of many players.
Anyone who has ever wanted a setting like this for their paintball games doesn’t have to travel far these days. A real-life “Nuketown” is just a short flight away in Spain.
Distrito Zero, the airsoft playground in a Spanish suburb
However, nuclear energy has nothing to do with the abandoned settlement. Siete Aguas, half an hour from Valencia, is a US-financed construction project that was abandoned in 2007. Now Siete Aguas looks like a ghost town with almost 50 empty houses and hardly any traffic on the streets.
In 2019, however, an airsoft association discovered the site – and the building ruin was given a new purpose as “Distrito Zero” In consultation with the owner, it was agreed that the area would henceforth be used as a sports facility. For the owner, this means rental income, and for the association, a phenomenal venue for team duels and search-and-destroy rounds:
Why did the construction project fail? Originally, more than 600 villas, a shopping center, and a golf course were to be built on the 500,000 square meter site in the early 2000s. In 2007, however, the environmental authorities put a stop to the whole thing.
Because the project involved building municipal roads through a public forest area, construction work was initially halted.
Further disputes with the building authorities brought the work to a complete standstill. In the end, only 53 buildings were completed.
Since the construction work was never 100 percent completed, the developer was unable to rent out the finished houses to residents and was left with the costs and a hefty fine. The deal with the airsoft enthusiasts came at just the right time. They can also keep vandals and squatters away.
