Police in Catalonia have detained a 53-year-old man suspected of causing a forest fire in Castellví de la Marca, Alt Penedès, on 20 August. The arrest follows an investigation by the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, into a blaze that burned 9.46 hectares of woodland and scrubland, including protected natural areas.

The fire broke out in the afternoon of 20 August near the Castellot area. As officers responded, a witness reported seeing a vehicle with a single occupant speeding along a forest track toward Castellot shortly before flames were spotted. Acting on this information, the Mossos and the Agents Rurals, a rural law enforcement unit under the Catalan government, began searching for the vehicle as a possible source of the fire.

Emergency crews later found a white car fully engulfed in flames near the forest track. Despite the damage, officers were able to partially read the license plate, allowing them to identify the registered owner. Around the same time, police located a man walking along the verge of a nearby road. He was carrying keys matching the make of the burned vehicle and gave a statement containing several inconsistencies, according to the Mossos.

  • The man was initially taken to a police station for identification and later formally detained.
  • He faces suspicion of causing a forest fire through serious negligence, under investigation by the Mossos.
  • The fire affected 9.46 hectares, of which 8.29 hectares were wooded land and 1.17 hectares scrubland.
  • All burned land lies within the Pla d’Espais d’Interès Natural (PEIN) El Montmell-Marmellar.
  • No Espai Natural de Protecció Especial (ENPE) was affected, according to official data.

Investigation and Environmental Impact

Agents Rurals deployed personnel to determine the fire's origin and cause. Their technical findings provided key evidence supporting the police investigation. The Mossos stated that the inquiry yielded 'determinant technical elements' linking the vehicle to the outbreak.

The investigation combined witness testimony, physical evidence from the burned vehicle, and forensic analysis by rural agents to establish a credible link to the suspect.

At the time of the fire, Protecció Civil issued mobile alerts urging confinement in Montmell and the residential areas of Pla de Manlleu, Moixeta, Pinedes Altes and Talaia Mediterrània, as well as along roads T-2442 and TV-2443. These measures were lifted as firefighting efforts progressed favourably. A total of 42 ground units and 15 aerial resources from the Bombers de la Generalitat (Catalan Fire and Rescue Service) responded to the incident.

Primary sources: interior.gencat.cat, ${rpb.dspace.name}. Reported by naciodigital.cat, Julio Collado, 3CatInfo, El Periódico, Redacció / La Bústia, ground.news, russpain.com, Pere Roca Soler, CatalunyaPress.es, Lucas Martorell, segre.com, Nació Digital.