Tourists and workers had a shock in the usually tranquil Gran Canaria beach resort of Amadores today this Saturday when two massive rocks fell from a slope about 30 meters high onto the private road at the back of the luxurious Gloria Palace Royal Hotel, in the southwestern municipality of Mogán. The rockfall only caused limited material damage and no one was injured, according to sources from the company that runs and owns the establishment.
The incident occurred just before 4:10 pm when the 112 Coordination Centre for Emergencies and Security started to receive calls reporting that two large boulders had fallen on the hotel complex. The ground shook, there was a landslaide, and two rocks located on public land fell from the mountain, falling onto the interior road of the hotel complex, a two-way road that has a row of covered parking spaces on one side, causing damage to at least three roofs of the covered car parking areas.
The massive rocks did not hit the four-star hotel, although they came close, and the damage was limited to the roofs of the parking area. Luckily there were no vehicles parked in the spaces, only construction material, and there were no construction workers at the site as it was a Saturday.
Firefighter teams from the Emergency Consortium of Gran Canaria from the Puerto Rico station were dispatched to the scene and initially cordoned off the area to prevent access. The rocks remain in situ, and the area has been cordoned off by firefighters as there is still a risk of further rock falls. The company will have to wait for a technician from the Cabildo de Gran Canaria or the Mogán Town Council to evaluate the area and remove the rocks.
The rocks fell from just a few meters above the hotel, where the noise from the falling rocks was heard. After securing the area, firefighters from the Puerto Rico station moved to the establishment to assess the location and check that no new cracks had been caused, according to sources from the Emergency Consortium of Gran Canaria.
During the inspection, the firefighters urged the owners of that complex to move customers who are in the facilities closest to the slope affected by the collapse if they feel new tremors.
Patrols from the Mogán Local Police and Mogán Civil Protection also went to the scene.
