The Murcia City Council will be investigated for its possible civil and criminal responsibility in the fire that caused the death of 13 people in two nightclubs in the Atalayas area that operated without a license despite the closure order given by the council itself in October 2022. .
The Superior Prosecutor’s Office of the Region has initiated criminal investigation proceedings and has requested from the council “all administrative files of all kinds”, with all the documentation they contain, that exist from the two premises, “to investigate whether there have been irregularities and whether civil and criminal responsibilities arise from them,” said the chief prosecutor, José Luis Díaz Manzanera in statements to Onda Regional.
This investigation will be carried out in parallel with the Investigative Court number 3 of Murcia, which took over the proceedings opened for 13 crimes of reckless homicide in the fire on October 1. “The court is going to focus for the moment on the causes of the fire, not on the municipal action. All this information will be collected by the prosecutor, he will investigate it and his conclusions will be provided to the judge so that she can determine whether to add it to the case or opens a separate piece,” he said.
This new investigation means that politicians and City Hall officials related to the nightclub files will be called to testify “as witnesses or as investigated,” “because we are going to ask everyone for information and explanations.” In addition to the two Urban Planning councilors, the current deputy mayor and Urban Planning councilor, the popular Antonio Navarro, as well as his predecessor, the socialist Andrés Guerrero, who was the one who signed the closure and sealing order in October 2022. Also It will be essential to know the vision of the officials who intervened in the files that affect the company Teatre Murcia S.L., owner of the suspended license under which the Teatre and Fonda Milagros premises operated. All of these officials were removed by order of Mayor José Ballesta during the investigation as a precautionary measure upon verifying that he had not enforced the order to seal the premises.
While this investigation progresses, the Governing Board of the Murcia City Council approved this Friday the appearance of the consistory in the judicial procedure that investigates, under summary secrecy, the fires to “clarify the facts, find out what happened and clarify all the responsibilities in the that the commercial companies that managed the nightclubs may have incurred,” said spokesperson Rebeca Pérez.