Enlarge image
The restaurants affected by the fire and the hotel to the left
Photo:
Clara Margais / dpa
It's only a few meters to the beach, and it's about a 20-minute walk to the notorious »Ballermann 6«: In El Arenal, people are used to the excesses of party tourists.
However, what happened last Friday is also unusual on Mallorca in this dimension.
Fire broke out on the terrace roof of a bar – allegedly caused by cigarette butts that had been flicked onto the thatched roof from the balconies of the adjacent hotel.
According to media reports, the fire damaged not only the restaurant but also a brothel, an adjacent apartment and the hotel itself. Two people are said to have been injured.
The suspected culprits: a bowling group from Germany, which is said to have landed just hours earlier and celebrated on the hotel balconies.
The men are all in custody.
The investigation has yet to show exactly what happened and who is responsible for what.
However, the 13 German tourists were quickly identified as suspects.
This is confirmed by witness reports from other hotel guests present.
Rene Palucki, for example, was there with his soccer team.
When the fire broke out, he was about a hundred meters away, the 41-year-old from Hamburg told SPIEGEL.
“A large cloud of black smoke formed and grew larger and larger.
It smelled horribly.” He immediately went to the hotel to help.
But the police had already cordoned off the street.
"The flames shot out of the first floor." It took 15 to 20 minutes for the fire brigade to arrive.
»At some point we wanted to go back to the hotel, there were around 30 police officers in front of the building.
The 13 young men sat in the lobby and looked at the floor,” says Palucki.
Police officers talked to the men in Spanish, and a woman from reception tried to translate.
'We wanted to ask what had happened, but were immediately sent to our room.
The young men weren't allowed to talk to us.« The hotel stunk and there was soot in many corners, says Palucki.
The 13 suspects are accused of arson.
According to media reports, the responsible judge assumes “joint responsibility” and accuses the Germans of a lack of cooperation.
The accused are silent on the allegations.
Spanish lawyers told the dpa news agency that the men could face between one and three years in prison if they were found guilty of negligent arson.
In the case of intent and endangering human life, the verdict could also be significantly sharper.
According to media reports, the accused are members of a bowling club in the Münster area, the name of the club: "Stram am Tisch".
The Majorcan police did not want to confirm the origin, but a cautious confirmation comes from the city of Münster.
"We assume that the 13 jailed members of the bowling club are six members of the volunteer fire department and one city employee," the city said.
The fire gives new fuel to the discussion about party tourism in Mallorca, because apparently the celebrations are as wild as before the corona pandemic - and also because residents are increasingly critical of the excesses.
Gruesome details quickly made the rounds in local media.
'The tourists watched from their balconies.
They started filming the fire with their cell phones, roared and laughed,” the “Mallorca Zeitung” quoted a man as saying.
"The music was turned up, they spilled beer from balcony to balcony and onto the street," said another.
They also threw down cigarettes.
"The entire roof quickly caught fire," it said.
It was "like a bomb".
The German authorities warn against prejudice.
"I think it is urgently necessary to wait for the responsible authorities to clarify the matter and to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions," said the chairman of the council committee responsible for the fire department in the city of Münster, Stefan Leschniok, the "Westfalen-Blatt".
The city of Münster is also reluctant: »We are initially waiting for the results of the investigation by the Spanish judiciary.
On this basis, the consequences for the firefighters and the city employees are to be decided.«
One of the bars affected was Why Not Mallorca.
The balconies of the cone brothers' hotel, with their metal railings, face both the street and the bar.
The German landlady reported to journalists on Monday about, among other things, a completely devastated outdoor area.
"What's on the minds of these young people?" she asked.
The bar's restaurateur estimated the damage on her terrace alone to the "Mallorca Zeitung" at 150,000 euros.
There are no official figures for the extent of the damage.
