The Atalayas tragedy still leaves several open questions. The origin of the fire that caused the death of 13 people in the early hours of Sunday in that nightclub area of ??Murcia is unknown with certainty. While different hypotheses are being studied (the fire could have been started by a light bulb or the flare of one of the party attendees), contradictory information appears about the license of the premises.
At the press conference called on Monday by the Murcia City Council, the current Urban Planning Councilor, Antonio Navarro, explained that Teatre and Fonda Milagros had been operating without a license and with an order to cease activity since last year. They were a single establishment and the owner built a plasterboard wall without permission to convert the premises into two. Fonda Milagros, where the victims died, “did not exist administratively” and escaped municipal control. Furthermore, Navarro claimed that they were not aware that the establishment was open even though it was a busy night area and the establishments continued to organize parties by advertising them on social networks.
According to the City Council, the division required a new permit that was not obtained. Due to the modification of the premises, the activity was requested to cease until the new license was obtained. However, the documentation presented did not correspond to what was requested.
Although at the moment only the firefighters and the scientific police have been able to access the nightclubs, Fonda’s lawyer, Francisco Adán, denied that there was an order to cease activity on the premises, and assured that the fire that caused the fire It was produced in Teatre.
Speaking to the media from an area close to where the event took place, Adán explained on Monday that, according to what his client, the owner of Fonda Milagros, told him, the premises had a license, although the documentation was in the inside the premises and “it has burned down.”
He indicated that less than a year ago the Inspection requested two modifications from the owner of Fonda that “were made.” Specifically, the City Council informed him that two fire doors were missing and that he had to remove a flammable object. There was also a modification regarding soundproofing.
“The City Council knows perfectly well that the premises were operating and at no time has my client received notification of the termination of the license, according to the information they transmitted to me.”
He pointed out that the premises initially operated with a license that belonged to ‘Teatre’, the place where, in his words, the fire originated. “We have seen a series of videos where ‘Teatre’ used cold fire cannons that night, at a ‘Remember’ party, which, due to circumstances that we do not know, rise too high and can affect the electrical wiring. It just so happens that those cannons occur in an area where the first flames occur”.
The spokesperson for the ‘Teatre’ nightclub, María Dolores Abellán, stated that the venue has the required municipal license for its operation, according to what the owner of the venue told her, although she has not seen the document.
