The fire that devastated the Teatre de Murcia nightclub this morning is the deadliest recorded in Spain in a leisure venue since the tragedy that occurred in 1990 at the "Flying" nightclub in Zaragoza, where 43 people died.
The fire in Teatre broke out around 6 in the morning and once the flames were extinguished, the lifeless bodies of seven people were found in the premises, although it is not ruled out that there are more fatalities.
The biggest tragedy in a nightclub in Spain took place in Madrid on December 17, 1983, when a fire that started behind the stage curtains of the "Alcalá 20" nightclub killed 81 people, most of them young people.
Smoke, a failure in the lighting system and a closed emergency door led to the catastrophe.
Years later, on January 14, 1990, the fire at the "Flying" nightclub in Zaragoza would occur, where 43 people died, poisoned by gas inhalation.
This is the chronology of the most serious fires with fatalities in nightclubs, restaurants and entertainment venues in Spain in the last 45 years:
- 01/15/1978.- An arson attack destroys the "Scala" nightclub in Barcelona and leaves four people dead.
- 01/21/1979.- A nightclub burns in the Cadiz town of Ubrique, with a death toll of six.
- 02/15/1979.- The fire at the "Charada" nightclub in Madrid causes the death of four people and leaves another eleven injured.
- 12/17/1983.- Eighty-one dead in the fire at the "Alcalá 20" nightclub in Madrid, caused by a short circuit.
- 10/20/1988.- Three dead: two waiters and a 17-year-old boy, due to the fire that devoured the "Dickens" pub in Vitoria.
- 01/14/1990.- The fire at the "Flying" nightclub in Zaragoza causes the death of forty-three people due to gas poisoning.
- 09/12/1992.- Four dead in the fire at the "Miami Club" club in Barcelona, due to a short circuit.
- 06.10.1996.- Four dead: two women - one of them, the person in charge of the cloakroom - and two firefighters in the fire at the "Siete Seven" nightclub in Valladolid.
- 09/14/2003.- Fire in the brothel "La nuit de la nuit", located on the N-IV highway, in Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real). Two dead.
- 04/22/2023.- Three people die (one of them almost a month later due to injuries sustained) and another 12 are injured in a fire that occurred in a restaurant in Madrid.
