Police seek arsonist who is setting cars on fire in Arenal

More than 15 vehicles have been set on fire in Arenal over a period of two weeks, sources at the Palma fire brigade confirmed. Police have not ruled out arson, but do not know if it is the work of a single person, or a gang who do it just for fun. All the fires started in the early hours of the morning and more than 15 cars and one motorcycle have been destroyed. Most of the fires occurred in Calles Berlin and Lisboa. The most serious episode occurred last Sunday, when nine cars in Calle Berlin went up in flames, the smoke blackening the entire façade of a building. The telephone cable melted in the heat and damage was caused to a shop. Neighbours say that the incident could have caused a tragedy if the black smoke had infiltrated flats where people were sleeping. A few days earlier, the fire brigade had extinguished fires in rubbish containers in the area and in a few parked cars, but the fires had been nowhere near as serious as the one last Sunday. The alarm was raised once again mid week when another two cars went up in flames in Calle Lisboa. On the same night that the nine cars in Calle Berlin went up in flames, two cars parked in the Son Reus depot were destroyed by fire. The cars were parked some distance away from each other, and the fires are believed to have been started deliberately. Suspicions were confirmed when two incendiary devices were found in the wreckage once the flames were extinguished. They were described as primitive molotov cocktails. Investigations are continuing into the case.