The Murcia nightclub where several people died on Sunday had been the subject of an administrative closure order for a year, which had not been applied, authorities in this southeastern city said on Monday, October 2. Spain. A violent fire ravaged the establishment, causing a total of thirteen victims and several injuries.

According to Antonio Navarro, deputy mayor, the municipality had in fact decreed the cessation of the nightclub’s activity in January 2022, before ordering the implementation of this decision in October – which should have resulted in a closure of the establishment.

This cessation of activity was decreed because the company managing the premises only had a license for a nightclub, the Teatre, while it had opened another in part of the same space, Fonda Milagros, where the deadly fire took place, he detailed, ensuring that neither one nor the other therefore had the right to be opened.

“The last step was the implementation order of October 2022 and from there, indeed, there was a violation [of the closure order] on the part of the company,” insisted Mr. Navarro, without giving more information on the potential origin of the disaster.

Faced with questions about the authorities’ inability to enforce their decision, he promised that the town hall would ensure that “all responsibilities” were established by the courts.

Causes still unclear

The managers of the establishment, for their part, denied this and claimed to be in good standing. “No one informed us that there was no longer a valid license,” assured their lawyer, Francisco Adan. “We are collaborating with the competent authorities and have confidence in them to clarify the facts,” assured the Fonda Milagros nightclub in a message on social networks.

The investigation into the causes of the tragedy, still unclear, was delayed by the heat and the risk of collapse in the nightclub, the firefighters having asked the scientific police on Sunday to wait for the temperature to drop before entering.

According to the prefect of Murcia, the fire “started at Fonda [Milagros] and was able to spread very quickly through the air conditioning ducts.” The Spanish press reports that the fire started from one floor of the nightclub where people were gathered to celebrate a birthday.

“It’s shock, desolation. Nothing can be said to console the families and friends of the victims, there are no words,” emphasized the president of the region, Fernando López Miras. “What they need is for their loved one to be identified” to be able to begin their mourning.

This particularly deadly fire caused turmoil in Spain, with King Felipe VI expressing his “pain and dismay” after “this tragic day”.