The pyromaniac arriving at court yesterday. | Alejandro Sepúlveda

TW

The individual arrested in the early hours of Thursday in connection with deliberate acts of fire-starting in Playa de Palma has been identified as R.C.R., a 39-year-old Spanish citizen who has a criminal record for theft. He has been of interest to the police and courts on 36 previous occasions.

Following his arrest, the National Police searched his property. They took away a large number of video games that had been stolen from shops and which have a value of around 1,500 euros.

He is accused of having caused at least ten fires - setting rubbish containers alight - in Playa de Palma. Police continue to suspect that he is not the person responsible for the massive wave of incidents in the city but are keeping open their lines of investigation. Meanwhile, another rubbish container was set alight around the time that he was being arrested. This was on the calle Miquel Marqués, which is near to the city centre.

Following a court appearance yesterday, he was remanded in custody, charged with arson.