Council chief named as official suspect in Madrid Arena investigation

The judge investigating the deaths of four young women, who died as a result of being crushed by a crowd at a Halloween party in Madrid, has named the city council’s economy chief, Pedro Calvo, as an official suspect.

On Monday, the judge, Eduardo López Palo, requested that the council “immediately” inform him of the department that is in charge of hiring out council buildings for this kind of an event, with the intention of calling the head of that department “as a witness, in theory.” Calvo is the City Hall chief in charge of the Madrid Espacios y Congresos company, which hired out to the party promoter Diviertt the Madrid Arena building, which is where the tragedy took place.

Calvo joins the list of other figures called as official suspects, including the boss of the Diviertt company, Miguel Ángel Flores, who organized the event, and the legal representatives of the companies that were in charge of security during the concert, Seguriber and Kontrol 34.

Flores will appear in court with his lawyer on November 20, while the lawyers from the security companies will appear the day after.

The head prosecutor in Madrid, Manuel Moix, has made clear that this process will examine “penal responsibilities, not political ones.”