Overview
- Advancing the case toward trial, the Mislata court charged a private engineer and the two owners with two counts of homicide by gross negligence and provisionally dropped the case against the municipal technician.
- The ruling says a self‑declaration — a form that lets an operator open without a prior city inspection — was legally sufficient to authorize the Christmas fair, so the lack of a municipal check does not create criminal liability.
- The families plan to appeal the closure of the investigation and seek to question the city’s Industry councillor, arguing the self‑declaration on file came from a different summer fair and exceeded the typical 30‑day window they cite.
- The judge cites deficient setup as the cause of the disaster: too few ropes, hardware‑store straps not rated for the load, anchor points that could not hold, and a move about 70 meters from the approved site that left the inflatable exposed; proper anchoring would have prevented lift‑off.
- Investigators say the engineer signed supervision and installation certificates without visual proof and cell‑phone data placed him in Elche on the stated inspection date, underscoring the court’s focus on private certifications and limited municipal oversight in Valencia.