Office building was being converted into a four-star hotel
A building undergoing renovations in Madrid, Spain, collapsed Oct. 7, killing four people. The six-story office building in the city’s downtown was being heavily renovated and altered in preparation for reopening as a hotel.
Three construction workers and a woman who local authorities say was overseeing the project were killed when several floors of the building partially collapsed. Authorities have described the three workers as men between 30 and 50 years of age from Ecuador, Mali and Guinea-Conarky, and the woman was aged 30. Three other construction workers were also injured in the collapse.
The last remains were recovered 15 hours after the collapse, as emergency crews worked with sniffer dogs to dig through the rubble inside the building. The structure’s facade was left standing after the collapse. The original office building dates back to 1965 according to public records reviewed by Reuters, and technical inspections of the building in 2012 and 2022 described it as «unfavorable,» citing multiple issues with the facade, roof and interior walls.
The project was being done by local contractor Rehbilita, which described the project on its website as a comprehensive rehabilitation and structural consolidation of the building and its garage to convert it into a four-star hotel. The property is owned by Saudi-based real estate investment fund RSR, which has developed other hotel and residential properties in Spain and Portugal.
