Series of suspicious fires with at least 12 vehicles gutted mars opening of Malaga's summer fair

National Police officers are investigating four separate incidents after fires were ignited within the first 48 hours of Malaga city's summer fair at the weekend.

All of the fires occurred in the district of Carretera de Cadiz and just a few minutes away from each other. They have left at least a dozen vehicles burnt, as well as damage caused to some homes and rubbish containers in the area.

Calls started coming in to the fire brigade just a few hours after the August festivities kicked off. At about 5.20am on 17 August residents of Las Delicias alerted authorities to a car on fire in Calle Sor Teresa Prat. It also caused another vehicle to catch on fire.

While firefighters were putting out the first fire, they were then called to another in Calle Omar, next to the Parque del Oeste, located just five minutes' walk from the previous blaze. The Local Police force carried out several searches in the area, but those responsible were not located.

The following early morning was just as busy. On this occasion, there were several calls about a van on fire in Avenida Catamarán, also located in the vicinity of the Parque del Oeste. Numerous cars were also affected, as was reported to 112 operators by police officers.

The first calls that afternoon came about 4.30pm on Sunday 18 August and then ten minutes later, while firefighters were working to extinguish the flames of the first incident, they were alerted to another similar incident less than 300 metres away, in Calle Chopin in the La Paz neighbourhood.

According to sources, four cars were completely gutted in this second fire, although the flames also reached nearby homes and scorched the façades of two houses.

President of the La Paz neighbourhood association, Víctor Picón, said it was "the straw that has broken the camel's back". "In recent weeks we have had several security problems in the Plaza Mozart at night, with noise and shouting in the early hours of the morning," he told SUR.

In addition to the dozen vehicles damaged in the first 48 hours of the fair, the fire brigade also intervened in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a lorry caught fire at the Real Cortijo de Torres fairground. It happened at about 2.55am in Calle José Blánquez el Maño.