Palma Airport roof collapse attributed to subcontractor worker's negligence

Accepted that the situation in the terminal building is "not ideal"

Tomas Melgar, director of Palma Airport, Mallorca

Tomas Melgar, director of Palma Airport, explaining work at the airport | Photo: Miquel À. Cañellas

Andrew EdePalma01/07/2025 09:44

The airports authority AENA has attributed the collapse of part of a roof at Palma Airport last week to the negligence of a subcontractor worker.

On Monday, the construction manager, Toni Rosselló, and the airport's director, Tomás Melgar, explained that the incident was due to "improper conduct" by a worker who decided "at his own risk" to use a lifting machine to pass through an opening in the wall that was being used to raise glass to carry out work.

Rosselló insisted that this was an "isolated incident" for a project for which all the safety measures have been approved by the relevant authorities. The worker in question "bypassed all procedures and without warning". The machine knocked over two rows of bricks that fell and which caused the incident. The subcontractor has been penalised.

Melgar indicated that the airport remodelling project is proceeding according to schedule; completion is expected in the winter of 2026. Next summer, he said, passengers will not notice the work. Any inconvenience at present, he added, is due to the nature and ambition of the project - a €560 million investment.

"This is essential work to adapt to the changing times, and we are aware that it is complex." With some 150,000 passengers per day, he accepted that "the terminal's situation is not ideal".

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James | 11 days ago

Great example in poor leadership and lack of accountability by Toni and Tomas. The actual collapse was a result of the worker's actions but the fault is the construction company for not enforcing correct practices and the manager for allowing it to happen and not overseeing correct procedures by his workers and subcontractors.

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