Murcia City Hall’s tribute to the 13 deaths in the Atalayas nightclub fires consisted of an act that lasted 5 minutes stopwatchwith around fifty participants, not even an institutional speech from the PP government team and which resulted in the laying of a wreath of flowers on a small monolith, in memory of the victims, located on an island which regulates traffic in the street.future of Rocío.
He sit-in that the majority of relatives of the deceased dedicated to the City Hall of the capital was the icing on the cake of such an event, organized on the occasion of the first anniversary of the greatest catastrophe in the history of Murcian and Spanish nightlife since in 1990 they died 43 people at the Flying Nightclub in Zaragoza.
“This is not the tribute they deserved“, as lamented Rafael Miranda, one of the four relatives who attended the event organized by the Town Hall, following the tragedy that occurred in the early morning of October 1, 2023, when a fire originating from the Teatre Disco ended to the lives of thirteen innocent people at Fonda Milagros.
The municipal appeal She was only supported by four relatives of three of the thirteen dead. that this fire claimed. More precisely, the deceased: Rafael Miranda, Jorge Enrique Batioja and Orfilia del Carmen Blandón. The relatives positioned themselves next to the monolith, marking their distance from the vice-mayor of Murcia, Rebeca Pérez, and the rest of the councilors of the PP and PSOE, as well as the Minister of Social Policy, Conchita Ruiz.
Such an image reveals the existing unrest among the families of the deceased because the Town Hall did not execute the closure order which affected the two nightclubs since March 2022, due to lack of an activity permit. Indeed, for the moment, the lawyers of six relatives of the deceased have already denounced the Murcia City Hall, for financial liability, to be compensated to the tune of more than 5 million euros.
Tribute event to the tragedy of the fire at the Atalayas nightclubs organized by the Murcia City Council.
No relatives of the deceased participated in the tribute ceremony.. The microphone was only given for two interventions delivered by a psychologist from Civil Protection and a worker from the Mobile Emergency and Social Assistance Service (SEMAS). A striking fact because Rafael declared that last year “I received nothing” from the Murcia City Hall.
In the group of journalists, more numerous than that of the victims’ relatives, The coldness and brevity of the act have been commented on despite the scale of the tragedy.. Some editors checked the records of the recordings. The tribute was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and ended at 9:38 a.m., but the actual duration was 5 minutes due to a delay in its start. The deputy mayor of Murcia, Rebeca Pérez, was asked about the existing tensions with the families of the 13 deceased and responded thus: “Today is a day to remember the people. I ask for respect.”
The Ecuadorian Rafael demands “Justice” for his son burned in the Fonda Milagros, after this room with a Latin atmosphere was devastated by the flames which spread through the ventilation ducts of the Teatre Discoteca. The fire is believed to have broken out there, caused by a spark machine purchased on AliExpress and used at the party in the early hours of October 1. “We remember.” “That evening, my son celebrated his 38th birthday with his friend Éric who was 30 years old.“.
Rafael was from Ecuador, he worked in a balloon company in the western industrial park of Alcantarilla and he got along very well with Eric Hernández, Coca-Cola delivery driver from Nicaragua. “My son was a quiet person, September 18 was his birthday, but he decided to celebrate it with his friend.” So they reserved the box. VIP number 18 of Fonda Milagros which ended up being destroyed by fire.
This double birthday party ended with the lives of Rafael Miranda, 38, the other birthday boy, Eric Hernández, 30, his girlfriend Orfilia del Carmen Blandón and his mother, Marta Hernández , among other guests who literally ended up burned. . “My son Rafael had two boys aged 11 and 10 and a daughter aged 9.. “I really liked them.”
-How are your three grandchildren coping with the premature loss of their father?
– They are children and they don’t show how sad they are.
Rafael Miranda, this Tuesday, showing a photo of his late son, Rafael, next to the demolition of the Teatre and the Fonda Milagros Disco.
-How did you learn that your son had died in the Atalayas nightclub fire?
– The son of one of my friends was in Fonda Milagros and was able to escape the fire. He called me at eight thirty in the morning on Sunday to tell me that my son, Rafael, had also gone to Fonda Milagros. I left the house with everything I was wearing and sandals, to look for Rafael. But when I arrived, the firefighters wouldn’t let me pass the police cordon. My blood pressure increased and I experienced a lot of anxiety. It was only three days later that it was confirmed to me which son was on the list of the thirteen deceased.
-How does a father wake up on October 1st, just one year after the death of his son?
– Nothing can remedy the loss of a child. It’s a weight I will always carry with me. All this year I thought Rafael was going to walk through the door of the house because we lived together. I go to his room and I think I’m going to see him. I hope those responsible for this tragedy pay in court. I also hope that the Murcia City Council will remedy what happened, because this cannot go unpunished because it is their fault: these nightclubs did not have authorization.
The monolith was inaugurated this Tuesday in memory of the victims of the fire at the Atalayas nightclubs in Murcia.
He Ecuadorian Rafael He explains that he came to the event because he only wanted to satisfy his curiosity, to know what the monolith that was going to be inaugurated in memory of his son and the rest of the deceased looked like, with this caption: “There There is no goodbye for those who will always be in our hearts. In tribute to the victims of the fire of October 1, 2023. For this 64-year-old agricultural employee, the real tribute will take place this Tuesday afternoon. in the mass that they organized in the Cathedral of Murcia with other relatives of the victims of the Atalayas fire.
“Then I will place white roses in nightclubs, accompanied by one of my daughters,” he continues to detail to the journalist, showing the bouquet he is transporting in his van, accompanied by a portrait of his beloved Rafael, with whom he agrees to pose next to what remains of the charred pieces: Teatre and Fonda Milagros, whose demolition was ordered by the court of Instruction number 3 of Murcia. “It still seems incredible to me that my son is dead,” he insists. “I buried him in Ecuador.”
The event called by the Murcia City Hall ends and some of the four relatives of 3 of the 13 deceased leave, visibly moved. Also revealing his indignation at the content of the tribute. The proof is the assessment of Lilieth Calderón, cousin of Orfilia del Carmen Blandón, who died during the birthday party of her boyfriend, Eric Hernández: “I have no words for this”.
