Fire has destroyed the 145-year-old Gran Teatre del Liceu less than a year before Spain's leading musical landmark was to undergo a major restoration, director Josep Caminal said.
A fire department spokesman said the cause of the blaze on Barcelona's Ramblas Boulevard was not known. It broke out shortly after 11 A.M. in the area behind the opera theater's stage.
Caminal told reporters he thought a spark from a blowtorch had started the fire that spread above the new steel fire curtain to the building's partially wooden roof. The fire curtain was installed during a recent partial restoration.
A fire department spokesman said the cause of the blaze on Barcelona's Ramblas Boulevard was not known. It broke out shortly after 11 A.M. in the area behind the opera theater's stage.
Caminal told reporters he thought a spark from a blowtorch had started the fire that spread above the new steel fire curtain to the building's partially wooden roof. The fire curtain was installed during a recent partial restoration.