Tarragona city requests 25 years of prison over 2020 chemical plant explosion

The Tarragona City Council is asking for a combined 25 years of prison for the directorship of the company IQOXE a fine of €9 million for the explosion at one the company's chemical plants in January 2020 in which three people died.

The council, standing as private prosecutors in the case, submitted its brief on Friday to the court. 

For the manager of the company, José Luis Morlanes, they request a sentence of 10 years, 8 years and 9 months is requested for the then-director of the plant, Juan Manuel Rodríguez Prats, and 6 years and 9 months is requested for former security manager, Gerard Adrio. 

All of them are accused of a crime against industrial safety, serious reckless homicide and destruction.

Civil Protection accuses company of not following correct emergency protocols

The civil protection agency accused the IQOXE chemical firm of not following the correct emergency communication protocols in the days after the incident, which it says made evaluating the situation and alerting the local population more difficult. 

The agency said IQOXE did not inform it of the emergency according to the established protocols, which caused "initial uncertainty" and "a lack of information" that meant it took more than an hour to establish whether the smoke from the accident was toxic or not, and whether it was necessary to alert local residents.

Locals described the "terrifying fear" they felt during the incident and its aftermath to the Catalan News Agency at the time. 

Some 11,000 workers turned out for a general strike held some weeks after the explosion at the Tarragona petrochemical complex.