The City Council has no record that the collapsed house in Manacor had ever undergone any mandatory inspection.

PalmThe building that caught fire early Thursday morning on San Francisco Street in Manacor, resulting in the death of 18-year-old Miguel Ángel Florez, had never undergone a mandatory building inspection (ITH). According to sources at the Manacor City Council, there is no record in any registry that the property owner had ever had the inspection carried out. In the municipality of Manacor, this inspection became mandatory in 2015, and within the first year, it stipulated that all homes over 50 years old must be inspected by specialized companies.

Nor is there any record that the house at number 6 Sant Francesc Street in the Barracar neighborhood applied for any permit for structural or roof renovations, which might suggest that, through this intervention, municipal technicians considered the building inspection (ITH) passed, once the work was incorporated into the overall unit. According to city hall sources, "it seems clear that work has been done, but, at this time, without these records, we cannot know exactly when; it could have been many years ago." "We know how part of the roof and the first floor collapsed, but not why," they reply. The technical hypothesis currently gaining the most traction is that the beams supporting the roof, which were embedded in a load-bearing sandstone wall, became dislodged due to years of accumulated moisture, which weakened the stone.

They also explain that, in these cases, "the primary responsibility for passing the inspection lies with the homeowner, not the City Council, which can't keep putting everyone in a bind. It's irresponsible of the homeowner." The judge handling the case already has the first municipal technical report on her desk, in order to decide as soon as possible how to proceed. For now, the barriers erected early Thursday morning will remain in place, and traffic on Sant Francesc Street has been closed until permission is granted to work on shoring up and stabilizing the building before its likely demolition, "and to prevent the facade from collapsing onto the street and causing another incident."

The affected house has been shored up.

Furthermore, the Manacor City Council has made a property available to the victims of the incident, which they can access whenever they wish. Meanwhile, sources from the City Council explained that the affected house has been shored up, although the family has been able to access it to collect personal belongings and documents. On the street where the incident occurred, relatives of the victim have placed candles and flowers on the ground in commemoration.