Malaga's Ibis hotel to be gradually levelled to the ground starting this week

Malaga Ibis hotel fire

Before partial demolition starts on Wednesday, firefighters will have to definitively extinguish the fire and forensic experts will enter and collect data

Jesús Hinojosa and Chus Heredia

One of the questions these days, in the wake of the fire in the Ibis hotel in Malaga, concerns the building's future. As SUR has been able to confirm, a demolition project is already under way, pending confirmation. The building will be completely demolished, but not immediately.

Partial demolition will start this Wednesday, after firefighters definitively extinguish the fire and forensic investigators gather data to determine the fire's cause. "Creating safe conditions is key to reaching the origin of the fire and beginning the investigation," sources stated.

The decision to begin work this Wednesday (starting with the wooden roof slabs) stems from an initial joint visit by the police, firefighters, urban planning technicians and representatives from the demolition company Francisco Ternero.

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  • Similarly, the air conditioning system on the roof was dismantled ten days ago. This required closing the false tunnel under Pasaje Guimbarda to traffic. Total demolition will take place once these phases finish.

    On Saturday, head of the Malaga fire department Salvador Castillo commented on the most damaged elements of the building.

    "Although a thorough evaluation and exhaustive tests are required, the initial inspections show that the main structure, composed of rolled steel pillars and beam, has performed well visually. The large structural deformations typical of other fires, such as those in industrial buildings, which usually collapse, are not visible. In my opinion, the main structure has performed surprisingly well. On the other hand, the intermediate floor slabs, made of laminated wood, are catching fire. As they lose cross-section due to the fire, their load-bearing capacity is reduced, and they suffer localized collapses. This is what generates the air leaks and flare-ups we have observed in recent days," Castillo explained.

    The demolitions that begin this Wednesday will allow firefighters to directly attack the flames. They will make openings in the facade to access the confined spaces of the suspended ceilings that have prolonged the firefighting efforts.

    Normally, using thermal imaging cameras and pipe-cutting tools, firefighters can safely tackle flames in suspended ceilings. These devices produce images with colours that change according to temperature. When crews work inside a building, they allow firefighters to quickly identify hidden hotspots, rapidly rising temperatures or smoke.

    Firefighters then use a pike pole to break through suspended ceilings or other surfaces and extinguish the flames or cool the area as required.

    In this case, however, the partial collapse of the floor slab separating the top two floors, which endangered a firefighter passing by at the time, was the key factor in the decision to approach the fire from the outside.

    The fire had a high thermal intensity from the beginning. In just two minutes, the cameras in the Santa Isabel area captured a large flame, the result of a deflagration.

    The fire spread very quickly, breaching the fire compartments and climbing the building. In the first few hours, after a floor collapsed at a firefighter's feet, they had to change strategy and move all extinguishing efforts to the outside.

    The incident has completely cancelled all plans to add three more floors to the hotel. At the time when the regional ministry of culture approved the project, the authorities said that adding more floors would not negatively impact the image of the old town.

    According to the document, the Ibis Málaga Centro hotel, which had 189 double rooms (378 hotel beds) and 47 parking spaces, was to gain 19 more rooms. The goal was to upgrade the hotel's rating from the current two stars to three stars or higher, with an increase of 390 square metres for new services.

    On Wednesday, Mayor Francisco de la Torre reiterated his commitment to upgrading the city's hotels.

    "We are open to the construction of a new hotel, without a wooden structure, if I may add. Extinguishing the fire is taking time because the safety of the firefighters is paramount, as we are working to cool the area until there are no more ignition points in the wood," he stated, stressing that the city's focus is on four- and five-star hotels.

    Regarding the origin of the fire, the mayor has been cautious. "We will have to analyse the specific causes and how it developed in order to learn from this in how we manage hospitality buildings with kitchens," he said.

    Browse all news related to the fire in the Ibis hotel in Malaga city