At the beginning of last month disaster struck Chiringuito Hoyo 19 when, at around 2am on the night of the 4th of May, the popular beach bar went up in flames.
It took three fire trucks four and a half hours to finally put out the rage that reduced the building to pile of cinders. The next day regular customers rallied around to support owner José Lemos and salvage what little they could.
The fire department says that they are unsure as to what caused the fire, but by process of elimination they deem it to have been an accident. Hopefully, the insurance will cover costs of getting the bar up and running again in time for summer. Judging by the huge amount of support witnessed on the Internet it is a very popular place and will be missed by many. Unfortunately, when I was down taking a look at the damage at the end of last month, it looks a long way off being returned to its former glory and it could be a while before the regular crowds can assemble again.