George Mathias
POLICE have arrested a 55-year-old German man accused of starting seven fires in different spots in Calvia.
An investigation was launched alongside local police and environmental protection agents after three fires were reported on estates on Son Pillo road on Saturday.
The following day, another two fires ‘spontaneously’ ignited.
One was spotted on a farm near Es Capdella, and another a few hundred yards down the road.
A surveillance operation was then launched in the area, with suspicions that arson was to blame for the sudden ignition of so many fires.
Then just a few hours later, two more fires broke out in Santa Ponsa.
At around midday, the German man was spotted in a vehicle speeding away from Santa Ponsa.
A local police patrol intercepted him at a checkpoint, finding several boxes of matches in his car.
He was subsequently arrested by the Guardia Civil on charges of arson.
All the fires were put out, but not before they had burnt through some 600 square metres of land.
The man appeared in court on Monday and is now on bail.
Spain looks set to break its record for largest number of fires in a calendar year this summer, though Mallorca has thankfully not had a devastating blaze since 2013, when more than 700 people were evacuated and 1,600 hectares of the Sierra de Tramuntana forest were destroyed.
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