The Court of First Instance number 4 of Arona The first civil lawsuit filed for the collapse of the Julián José building, which occurred almost seven years ago in Los Cristianos and caused the death of seven people, as well as injuries and property damage, is admitted for processing. The five complainants claim compensation that exceeds 335,000 euros. Two of them are owners of homes lost in the collapse, claiming compensation for it. Four plaintiffs claim as injured by the death of a direct family member in the collapse.
After the filing of the criminal procedure, on December 1 the ordinary procedure 1090/2022 was opened, after the civil lawsuit was filed by the lawyer Antonio Quintero on behalf of the five affected. In this case, the claim is made for the death of a person and for material damage registered in two of the houses that collapsed as a result of the collapse of the building.
the landslide
The Julián José building, located at number 12 Amalia Alayón street and Valle Menéndez street at the back, mostly collapsed at 9:31 a.m. on Thursday, April 14, 2016, causing the death of seven people and the eviction of some 90, including the residents in the adjoining buildings: Bruno, Linares, Chicharro and Porlamar. The rescue work lasted three days and 250 troops participated. Five days later, 38 of those affected returned to their homes, while those residing in the property remained in private accommodation and in others provided by the Arona City Council.
The Julián José was a four-story building in which 28 people lived in the 24 houses that made it up (it also had several commercial premises). The building remained standing for 44 years, after its construction in 1972.
The car
The magistrate of the Investigating Court Number 3 of Arona, Sofía Elena Valdivia, issued an order on July 12, 2018 in which she ordered the dismissal and filing of the criminal case opened by the collapse of the Julián José building, in Los Cristianos, where Seven people lost their lives on April 14, 2016. The judge considered that the tragedy was the result of a concurrence of causes with several responsible parties, but did not consider it possible to attribute criminal responsibility to any of the parties involved.
In that car, the magistrate reflected that “It cannot be affirmed that any of the interveners has carried out, individually, an exclusive and specific action that has caused the result of death.” In his opinion, the type of responsibility that could correspond to each of them could be better determined in civil proceedings, “in a more adjusted procedure that allows analyzing each of the actions in a timely manner and obtaining, where appropriate, timely and just compensation. The path that five of those affected are now undertaking.
The order concluded that “it can be affirmed that the causes of the collapse of the Julián José building can be multiple, that criminal responsibility cannot be attributed to any of the subjects analyzed given that the existence of a problem of origin could determine that the building was in poor condition and not being able to conclude exactly what type of works were undertaken on the premises in 2002, it cannot be specified that these have caused the collapse.
The victims
Flor González, a 71-year-old Asturian; Antonio Jesús García Beltrán, a 55-year-old from Tenerife; Noemí Ruiz Rodríguez, a 29-year-old Galician; Hanan Mrabet, a 41-year-old Moroccan; Graziella Fagnoli, a 77-year-old Italian; Alessandro Locatelli, a 41-year-old Italian, and Markku Tapinnen, a 72-year-old Finn. They are the names of the seven fatalities. Three wounded are added to them.
