The plumes of smoke could be seen from miles away.
From the Carrer Berga street in the resort of El Arenal, they moved out onto the bay of Palma de Mallorca.
When the fire was extinguished, the destruction became apparent: the restaurant "Why not Mallorca" burned out, the roof is just a sooty metal bracket, it stinks of stale smoke, and police tape is hanging everywhere.
The Spanish judiciary blames 13 Germans for the fire on Friday afternoon two weeks ago.
The men are in custody.
They are accused of having caused the fire negligently or intentionally in joint responsibility.
A few hours earlier, the tourists had checked into the three-star Whalabeach Hotel, which is adjacent to the scene of the fire.
Witnesses say the men partied on the second and third floor balconies.
How the fire started has yet to be determined.
The authorities suspect that the Germans threw burning cigarette butts onto the thatched roof of the "Why not Mallorca" restaurant.
Their rooms are said to have faced it.
The outdoor area of the bar was destroyed, as was the "Cupido" bar below.
The damage is in the six-figure range, a man and a girl were slightly injured.
Administrators and firefighters were among the detainees
It is unclear how long the men will be held in custody.
In extreme cases, it lasts until a judgment is reached;
until then it can take up to two years in Spain.
A judge initially ruled out a release on bail.
Those arrested are members of a bowling club called "Stramm am Tisch" from Münster.
According to the local city administration, an administrative employee is among the suspects, as are six members of the volunteer fire brigade.
Matthias Pape knows the group.
The sixty-eight year old is spokesman for the fire brigade friends in Albachten – a district of Münster with 6,500 inhabitants and a village character.
Pape is angry.
The men would be prejudiced.
The mood in the district is depressed.
Pape is disturbed by journalists who run through the town and "chat to people".
It is clear "that people are closing".
They are proud of the voluntary fire brigade here.
Among those arrested in Mallorca are helpers who pump out the cellars and drive out to accidents.
"If they've done mischief, they have to be punished for it," says Pape.
But first the crime must be cleared up, and until then "in case of doubt for the accused" applies.
They are almost all in their mid-20s, the oldest in his mid-40s, as the "Mallorca Zeitung" writes,
quoted by a woman close to the group.
The men are decent and don't smoke.
Up to 20 years in prison possible?
Maria Alonso, on the other hand, lights a cigarette several times a day.
Since 2018, the 52-year-old Spaniard has been running a small supermarket right across from Whalabeach.
Alonso kept coming to her shop that Friday to smoke.
She observed holidaymakers throwing beer cans from the third to the second floor and vice versa, with some falling onto the street.
The hotel guests would have danced and shouted, loud English music was playing.
Maria Alonso is used to partying during the day.
Your shop is not far from the so-called Ballermann.
She didn't see exactly how the fire started;
only that it emanated from the roof of the restaurant.
She ran into the street when she heard explosions, called the fire brigade and got to the beach to safety.
Already on the evening after the fire, the 13 members of the bowling club were in the detention cells of a police station.
They spent the second night in Mallorca's only prison, which is located in the north of the island's capital Palma on the ring road, cordoned off by high fences.
In the detention center, the prisoners on remand meet convicted inmates.
According to the circumstances, the Germans are doing well, Moritz Tauschwitz told the radio station Antenne Münster last week.
He represents several of the alleged perpetrators.
The Mallorcan judiciary must decide in the next few days whether the provisional detention will be maintained.
If the accusation is arson with a specific endangerment of people, the penalty is ten to 20 years in prison.
However, Tauschwitz considers this unlikely.
Fines and suspended sentences or suspension of proceedings under conditions are also possible.
In addition, not everyone of the 13 suspects can be held equally responsible.
Negligent arson carries a prison sentence of one to three years.
According to the newspaper "Bild", another lawyer for the men considers it unlikely that the people of Münster started the fire.
They had no line of sight to the bar and therefore couldn't have flicked cigarette butts onto the bar's thatched roof from the balcony.
When there was a fire, the Germans rushed to help other guests.
This was supported by text and voice messages to relatives. A video available to him shows two other men standing on another balcony – facing the fire site.
Appropriate applications for evidence have been submitted to the judiciary.
Arenal hotel rooms are again occupied two weeks after the fire.
Two young people are sitting on balcony chairs on the second floor, and on the third floor a woman is puffing on a cigarette.
Below, the door of the "Why not Mallorca" restaurant is open, although it is closed.
The owner came from Germany half an hour ago and looked at the damage.
He doesn't want to talk.
His partner says: "Give him time, maybe tomorrow." She locks it.