Palma building that suffered deadly collapse 'had illegal terrace'

At a press conference on Tuesday, the mayor of the Spanish town of Palma, Jaime Martínez, reported that the terrace that collapsed last Thursday at the Medusa Beach Club in Playa de Palma did not have the relevant municipal activity licence to host customers.

According to statements quoted by Spanish broadcaster RTVE, the city council of the Mallorcan capital will hand over the reports compiled by different municipal departments to the National Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office, and will appear in the case if legal proceedings are opened against those allegedly responsible for the incident.

The collapse left four dead and 14 injured.

The mayor pointed out that the ground floor, used as a restaurant, and the basement where the discotheque Coco Rico was located did have the appropriate permits.

Overweight and overloaded

According to the mayor, the preliminary conclusions drawn by the Palma fire brigade point to the structural overloading linked to renovation work carried out without a permit, and to the presence of around 20 customers in the space at the time of the collapse.

The building had passed an inspection that identified minor problems which did not compromise the structure. However, the inspectors warned that the roof, which had undergone works and was being used as a terrace without the corresponding permits, was not passable.

Enric Heredia, president of the Association of Structural Consultants, told Euronews of the importance of following correct procedure.

The works that modify buildings, he said, "are always delicate, they require special attention, a concrete project of what is going to be done, a good monitoring of the work and a good monitoring of its implementation".