Restaurant Terrace In Deadly Mallorca Collapse Was Unlicenced: Mayor

Madrid: A beachfront restaurant on the resort island of Mallorca where a rooftop bar collapsed last week killing four people did not have a license for the terrace that gave way, the local mayor said Tuesday.

Two German tourists, a Senegalese man and a 23-year-old Spanish woman who worked at the establishment died in the collapse on Thursday in Palma de Mallorca, the island's capital. Sixteen people, including Dutch and German tourists, were injured.

The recently renovated first-floor terrace collapsed onto the ground floor crushing customers at a crowded music bar in the basement.

The building comprised the Medusa Beach Club -- a street-level restaurant with a rooftop terrace -- and a basement bar called CocoRico.

"The basement had a licence to operate as a music bar, the ground floor had a restaurant licence but the first floor wasn't licenced for any activity, nor authorised to use the terrace," Palma mayor Jaime Martinez Llabres told reporters.

No building permit had been submitted for the renovation work carried out on the terrace, he added.

An initial investigation found the collapse was due to a "combination of excess weight due to the work carried out and the overload caused by an influx of people," the mayor said.

Only one of the injured is currently in hospital, according to Martinez Llabres.

Local media reported the Senegalese man who died had won a police medal after rescuing a swimmer from drowning in December 2017.

High tourist season is already in full swing in the Balearic Islands, an archipelago which includes Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca.

Mallorca is known for its pristine waters and beaches, and the Balearic Islands are one of Spain's top tourist attractions. More than 14 million foreign tourists visited the archipelago last year, according to official figures.

MENAFN28052024000063011010ID1108267416