Promptly at 9am on Monday, the demolition of the Social Club Mallorca began as scheduled by the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB). An operator on a drilling excavator started drilling holes in the walls and tearing them down, along with the adjacent traffic signs.
The work began on the side facing the sea for accessibility reasons, drawing the attention of several onlookers strolling along the Paseo Maritimo. It is important to note that where the discotheque structure now stands, a green pedestrian area is planned to be created.
Given the size of the building, it can be inferred that the dismantling work will continue in the coming days. However, it is still unknown how and when the walkway connecting the old club to the Hotel Mediterráneo building will be removed. The hotel’s facade is protected, complicating the demolition of the well-known bridge.
The club closed at the end of April. This followed several months of negotiations to try and arrive at agreed compensation for terminating the concession from the Balearic Ports Authority; the concession ran until 2027. The Paseo Marítimo comes under the ports authority, and as this is a state authority, the order for demolition came from the Spanish transport ministry.
In the end there was no satisfactory agreement and so the ministry ordered a forced expropriation. No amount has been specified in respect of this expropriation.