The director of the commercial department at Calvia town hall, Jaime Nadal, and a municipal engineer, Bernardo Rossinyol, were yesterday arrested as part of the ongoing investigation of Tolo Cursach. The two are expected to appear in court today, their detention having been ordered by the investigating judge, Manuel Penalva, and chief prosecutor, Miguel Ángel Subirán.
Before Cursach was arrested, the decision had been taken at the town hall to dismiss Nadal. It was alleged that he had obstructed a review of the BCM licence. Both he and Rossinyol are now suspected of having protected the club's interests and of having denied licences to rival businesses.
Meanwhile, Cursach and Tolo Sbert, arrested and imprisoned at the same time, seem likely to be transferred to a prison on the mainland. Their lawyers are challenging this, saying that their behaviour since their detentions has been exemplary and wanting to know who has authorised the transfer. They add that such a move would "annihilate the right" to be presumed innocent.
Related to all this, there is concern among organisers of "study trips" by Spanish adolescents because of the closure of BCM. Some 22,000 students come to Majorca each year, with around 14,000 of them heading for Magalluf.
Trips for students vary in terms of age and type. Those for younger teenagers include the possibility of going to clubs like BCM under specific controls. One of the agencies involved in arranging the trips says that BCM has a service for minors and provides a "healthy environment" for sessions which are only for minors.
BCM has been an incentive, therefore. Another agency suggests that if the club remains closed, the choice of destination will have to be changed next year. A third agency says that the closure hasn't affected this year's bookings, as they had already been made. There are, though, many youngsters who are disappointed. This particular agency, Simple Trip, brings an average of 2,700 young people, mainly from Andalusia, Madrid and Valencia.
Alfredo Múniz of Juvenalia says that any criminal activity on behalf of the club's owner (Tolo Cursach) is one thing. Closing the club is quite another.
Calvia town hall ordered the club's closure when undertaking a review of its licences. There were irregularities and lack of documentation related to cooling towers. As yet, there is still no indication as to when it might reopen.