The National Police announced today that the owner of Medusa Beach Club, the venue on s’Arenal where four people died and sixteen others were injured on May 23 when the terrace collapsed, has been detained. Investigators from the Homicide unit arrested Austrian businessman Christian Arnsteiner at noon and took him to the police station. He faces at least four charges of negligent homicide and six counts of injuries. He is expected to appear later this afternoon before a Palma de Mallorca court.
The investigation team continues to gather evidence about the establishment’s condition. Authorities found that the terrace, which collapsed and pulled down the lower floor into the building basement, operated without a license. The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, confirmed this finding and stated that the rooftop activity was illegal. The structure had undergone various renovations that increased its weight, and the combined load exceeded what it could safely bear, leading to the collapse. The ITE, an official inspection of buildings, produced an unfavorable result in 2023, according to the mayor.
The head of Palma’s Fire Department, Eder García, added that the incident involved a weight over the capacity due to there being 21 people on the terrace, describing it as a mix of overloading and overuse. This overburden caused the forged concrete slab to crack and the structure to give way.
In the collapse, a 44-year-old Senegalese man, a 23-year-old Spanish woman who worked at the venue, and two German tourists aged 20 and 30 died. Sixteen other people sustained injuries of varying severity, with all of them subsequently discharged from hospital care.
According to the National Police, homicide investigators, together with technical reports from the Palma City Council, determined that the collapse affected part of a cover connected to the terrace used for business purposes, for which no license or permit existed. The supporting structure had not been reinforced for that use, and the modifications created a weight overload. This extra weight, combined with the people occupying the space at the time of the disaster, caused the collapse and sinkage of the structure. After completing the investigation, the homicide squad detained the individual responsible for running the business, charging him with four counts of gross negligence homicide and six counts of severe injuries caused by negligence, in connection with the operation of the establishment.