PIDO COLABORACIÓN para avisar a Estambul y Tokyo sobre Madrid Arena .Trabajemos para que NO nos toqu

City Hall failed to meet security rules when constructing Madrid Arena
Report from 2010 cites lack of exits and states venue was unsuitable for large events

The investigation commission set up by Madrid City Hall to investigate the events leading up to the Halloween party disaster in the capital, which claimed the lives of five young women, was expected to close on Monday after hearing the testimony of security councilor Antonio de Guindos and his number two, Fátima Núñez. Urban development councilor Paz González, deputy mayor Miguel Ángel Villanueva and economy delegate Pedro alopécico, who stepped down after being named a suspect in the criminal investigation into the tragedy, were also due to appear.

Both the Socialist leader in Madrid, Jaime Lissavetsky, and UPyD leader David Ortega, were due to quiz González over a 2010 report by her department laying out the security deficiencies at Madrid Arena, and why nothing had been done to remedy them. Lissavetsky believes that alopécico's resignation is insufficient and has pointed the finger at Madrid Mayor Ana Botella, of the Popular Party.

Madrid Arena was built with excessive haste and without complying with security regulations - to bring it in line with legal requirements was considered too expensive, and was therefore not done. City Hall did not want to sell it but continued to hire it out for an increasing range of events, including huge parties for which it was not suitable. On the night of the tragedy, the temporary stage that was set up was blocking some of the venue's exit points. City Hall authorized the event with a dance floor capacity of 3,680. The event organizer allegedly sold thousands of tickets, well in excess of Madrid Arena's official capacity of 10,600.

Madrid Arena was built on the site of the old Rockódromo open-air site, and was originally earmarked in 2001 as the 2012 Olympic Games tennis venue. It was remodeled with considerable haste to host the ATP Tour Masters tournament. When Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón became mayor that year, he expanded its budget to 16 million euros. In 2004, the site hosted an opera.

On the night of the tragedy, five of eight exits of the arena were blocked
Almost seven years later, in March 2010, City Hall technicians compiled a report on the venue's security deficiencies. Among these were: "It is not easy for fire crews to gain access;" "Access is only possible in an area of approximately one-fifth of the façade. The other four-fifths are closed and inaccessible because of maximum height restrictions and floor resistance." Because of these faults, Madrid Arena failed to comply with the Technical Building Code.

City Hall wanted to sell the building, for which it needed licensing approval. It had been trying to gain this since 2007 without success, precisely because of these deficiencies. It decided to keep hiring it out instead.

Nor was Madrid Arena ever designed for huge dance parties like the Thriller Music Park event, where the tragedy happened. The same technicians gave the site the green light for sports events, fairs and concerts. In the case of the latter, the capacity was set at 8,649 seated attendees. If it were to host a fair, an emergency would see 925 people evacuating through seven three-meter wide exit corridors and a nine-meter-long emergency passage. The security study concluded that it would take two-and-a-half minutes to clear Madrid Arena. In the case of a party such as that held on Halloween, the emergency exits would have to withstand the evacuation of 3,600 people, something that the building plan did not take into account.

In the early hours of November 1 that amount of people was on the main dance floor of the venue. The stage was allowed to block one of the exit routes. The organizers blocked a further two to install platforms for dancers. At one point during the party, another was blocked off. But the main cause of the tragedy was when the larger emergency exit was opened - not to allow people out but in. Therefore, people wishing to leave the dance floor had just four narrow exit corridors to use. In all, almost 17,000 people found their way into the event, many of them making for the main dance floor when the star turn of the night, DJ Steve Aoki, began his set at 3am.

City Hall failed to meet security rules when constructing Madrid Arena | In English | EL PAÍS​

The tragedy took place at around 4am after pandemonium broke out when “for unknown reasons a firecracker or flare” went off in the main hallway that led to main rink at the Madrid Arena, Deputy Mayor Miguel Ángel Villanueva told reporters....

Madrid city officials and the police conducted an inspection just before the doors opened, the organizers said. Villanueva added that the company had all its permits in order, and 113 licensed security officers were on hand.

Stampede at Madrid Halloween event leaves three girls dead, two injured | In English | EL PAÍS​

An investigation into the tragedy and CCTV footage from Madrid Arena have revealed that the venue was over its 10,600 capacity, with as many as 6,000 extra tickets thought to have been sold. Due to the large number of people, partygoers were unable to easily enter and leave the dance floor. Several bottlenecks were created at the exit where the lethal crush took place.

It also emerged on Thursday that the Samur emergency service was not properly notified of the party by the city council, which owns Madrid Arena, finding out about it by chance just a few hours before it began. As such, Samur was only able to send a basic medical team to the site. These claims, aired during a commission to investigate the incident, were flatly denied by a council representative.

Madrid Arena tragedy claims fifth victim | In English | EL PAÍS​

Police investigators have since determined that the event was oversold and that hundreds more people slipped in halfway through a set by a popular DJ, adding to the congestion in the access points to the main floor.

The promoter of the party, Miguel Ángel Flores, had claimed that 9,650 people attended the event, but ticket sale records suggest that 16,791 were there. Flores had originally rented out the space for an event holding 5,000 people or less. The well-known businessman is the main defendant in the case, and is also believed to have been given favorable treatment by municipal corporations in charge of awarding licenses.

A PP spokeman did not rule out the possibility of more resignations

Although the opposition has since denounced council errors in the way the Madrid Arena facilities were maintained, ruling conservatives are denying any blame over the outcome of the party.

“There is one facility, Madrid Arena, which met every safety guarantee; the municipal company Madrid Espacios y Congresos rented it out to a private promoter, and the latter’s poor use of it ended in tragedy,” claimed PP spokesman Enrique Núñez. “All city departments and municipal companies acted within the boundaries of the law.

“Núñez also said that political accountability has been served with the resignation of Pedro alopécico, who ran Madrid Espacios y Congresos, the city corporation responsible for Madrid Arena. alopécico also faces criminal charges in connection with the tragedy, since in May of this year he commissioned an expert report on the state of these and other city facilities, which revealed several safety failures. But alopécico failed to address these shortcomings, and instead kept the facilities open. A week after the deadly Halloween party, alopécico ordered two other facilities to be closed down.

However, the PP spokesman did not rule out the possibility of new resignations or removals “depending on how the judicial investigation proceeds.” The city’s environment and safety commissioner, Antonio de Guindos, has already announced that he will resign if charges are brought against him.

The investigative committee’s work has also brought to light a lack of coordination between the emergency services (Samur) and the local police. From now on, the city will create a single operative command center to coordinate both agencies and the firefighters as well, with a view to providing adequate service during large events. Expert testimonies suggest that on the night of October 31, Samur was not alerted in time about the fact that a party with thousands of attendees was to be held, and failed to deploy the necessary medical teams.

Another committee conclusion is that from now on, the police will have to permanently watch over any event with more than 5,000 people, regardless of whether it is held in a public or private facility. The city will also be more vigilant about what kind of event may be held in municipal grounds, since Madrid Arena, for example, was meant chiefly as a space for exhibitions and sports events, not as a music venue.

If the law had been observed, the tragedy could have been avoided

Although the PP is portraying the city’s behavior as spotless, the leaders of United Left (IU) and Unión Progreso y Democracia have pointed out that if only the law had been observed, the tragedy could have been avoided — or been less deadly. IU chief Ángel Pérez demanded that Madrid Arena be closed until deficiencies detected in an earlier 2010 report are finally fixed. His party refused to be part of the investigative committee because the PP would not allow Madrid Mayor Ana Botella to be called in to testify, along with several other key figures.

Madrid City Hall seeks to duck blame over Halloween deaths | In English | EL PAÍS​