Sant Josep's opposition groups have criticised the town hall's handling of information following the death of a man in an early-morning fire at the Casa Lola settlement, saying they were not informed or invited to a press conference held by Mayor Vicent Roig the following day.

The complaint was issued jointly by PSOE, Unides Podem and Ara Eivissa, together with non-affiliated councillor Raquel Ripoll. The groups say they had requested explanations or a meeting of spokespersons after learning of the death on Sunday, 27 September, but did not receive a response.

The fire at Casa Lola

The incident took place early on Sunday morning at a makeshift structure in the Casa Lola settlement in the Camí des Jondals area of Sant Josep.

The victim was a 48-year-old man of Paraguayan nationality who suffered burns to around 90 percent of his body. He was transferred in critical condition to the intensive care unit at Can Misses Hospital, where he died at around 5pm that afternoon.

The Guardia Civil opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. As of 29 September, investigators were keeping all hypotheses open and had not ruled out the possibility that the fire was deliberately started.

Opposition says it requested information

According to the four opposition representatives, they contacted Mayor Vicent Roig on Sunday evening after the death and asked either for an explanation or for a meeting of municipal spokespersons so that the political groups could receive information about what had happened.

They say they did not receive a response.

The following morning, the mayor held a press conference at Sant Josep Town Hall concerning Casa Lola and the municipality's urban planning situation following the expiry of its provisional planning rules.

Opposition councillors say they were not invited

The opposition groups say none of their councillors were informed of or invited to the press conference.

According to their joint statement, members of the municipal government attended, along with former mayor Neus Marí, former Urban Planning councillor Javier Marí and Balearic Parliament member Marta Pereira, all from the Partido Popular.

The opposition groups questioned why people who are no longer members of the municipal corporation were present while elected opposition councillors were not included.

A complaint the groups describe as institutional

The four groups said their criticism was not motivated by party politics but by what they described as an institutional concern.

They argued that information concerning both the death at Casa Lola and important planning matters should be shared with all groups represented in the municipal corporation.

They also said that the council belongs to the entire municipality and should not be used as a platform for one political party.

Urban planning was also discussed

The dispute comes as Sant Josep deals with a separate planning issue involving the expiry of its provisional planning rules.

On Monday, the municipality presented its new "Sant Josep, Orden y Planificación" strategy for 2026 to 2029. The programme follows a technical audit of more than 350 sectors covering over 10.4 million square metres of land.

The town hall says the audit identified 244 areas with different planning situations or outstanding deficiencies. The municipality has classified those areas into six groups and says a dedicated technical unit will work on resolving the issues identified.

The strategy is also intended to support progress towards the future General Urban Development Plan, or PGOU.

Opposition says it learned planning details through the media

The opposition groups also criticised the way information about the expiry of the provisional planning rules had been communicated.

They said some details were learned through media reports rather than through an institutional meeting with the municipal political groups.

The groups said they remain willing to work with the government on both the Casa Lola situation and urban planning, but want opposition representatives to receive information through the municipality's institutional channels.

What happens next

The opposition is asking Mayor Vicent Roig to provide the information presented at the press conference and to address the matter in a formal plenary session.

At the same time, the investigation into the fatal Casa Lola fire remains open. The Guardia Civil has said that all possible causes remain under consideration, including the possibility of a deliberate fire.

The political dispute over access to information is therefore taking place alongside two separate ongoing issues in Sant Josep: the investigation into the death at Casa Lola and the municipality's efforts to address its wider urban planning problems.