Majorca beach tragedy: Palma club did not have permit for rooftop before fatal collapse, mayor says
A Spanish beach club, which collapsed killing four people last week, did not have a permit to serve customers on its roof, according to a local politician.
Two German tourists, a Spanish waitress and a Senegalese man were killed when the two-storey Medusa Beach Club caved in on May 23 in Palma de Mallorca.
The city’s mayor Jaime Martinez Llabres said a preliminary investigation showed the accident was caused by the excessive weight of a large number of people on the rooftop, which had been revamped without the required authorisation.
He said: “The rooftop did not have a licence for activity nor authorisation to occupy the terrace.”
There were about 21 people on the rooftop at the time of the collapse, according to the head of the city's fire department, Eder Garcia.
Firefighters said the club usually spread its tables across the terrace, but that night it had set a larger table for a group of 12 Dutch tourists, which they believe may have provoked the collapse.
"There shouldn't have been anyone up there," Mr Garcia said.
The accident occurred as Spain's Mediterranean Balearic islands prepare for a summer tourism season expected to bring millions of visitors and business worth millions of pounds to the whole region.
The German victims were two women aged 20 and 30, the waitress was 23 and the Senegalese man was 44.
Mr Llabres said reports had been sent to police and the prosecutor's office. The city council will also take part in any future lawsuits over the collapse.
