Who was responsible for starting the devastating wildfires in Spain's Castilla y León region? These are the profiles of the main suspects...

It is estimated that the forest fires that have been raging in Spain's Castilla y León region for the last three weeks have already burned some 150,000 hectares so far. The handling of the incident has provoked fierce criticism of the regional government of Castilla y León and also cross-reproaches between the Partido Popular (which is in charge of most of the affected regions) and the PSOE (the state government) parties.

In the midst of this dispute, leader of the PP Alberto Núñez Feijóo presented a plan of 50 measures against wildfires, including "creating a national register of pyromaniacs to identify those convicted of fires and imposing telematic bracelets, especially during the months of greatest danger of forest fires".

But are pyromaniacs really the ones who set fire to the forests of Castilla y León and the rest of Spain? According to the statistics of the Ministry of the Interior, in 2023, the Guardia Civil were aware of 2,944 forest fires. Of them, 1,977 (67%) were due to unknown causes, 281 (10%) due to negligence, 241 (8%) due to natural causes, 220 (7%) due to accidental causes and 225 (8%) were intentional, which does not always mean that they were caused by pyromaniacs.

So far, in this wave of fires in 2025, the Guardia Civil have arrested three suspects and investigated three others. Will they match the statistics?

On 12 August, the Guardia Civil arrested a man for reportedly starting a forest fire that devastated around 2,200 hectares in the municipalities of Cuevas del Valle, Mombeltrán and El Arenal (Ávila).

The technical-ocular inspection by the nature protection service of the Guardia Civil (Seprona), carried out together with the forest fire investigation brigade (BIIF) of the regional government of Castilla y León, revealed clear signs of intentionality.

The police investigations focused on a man that the Guardia Civil identified on 31 July, while he was on his way to Cuevas del Valle. When he noticed the police, he performed evasive manoeuvres. After gathering sufficient evidence, the police took a statement from the man, until he finally confessed to having caused the fire.

Investigations suggest that the motivation could be linked to employment interests , given that the detainee had previously worked in firefighting campaigns and that he obtained a job ten days after the fire had started.

On 13 August, the Roca team of the Guardia Civil in León reported that a man was being investigated as the presumed perpetrator of a forest fire, allegedly caused by recklessness. The flames damaged two hectares in the Filiel-Lucillo (León) area.

The fire in Puercas started on 11 August and caused the eviction of the villages of Puercas, Ferreruela de Tábara, Losacio, Abejera, Riofrío de Aliste, Bercianos, Sesnández and Sarracín de Aliste. Five people were injured, all in Abejera.

The investigation established that the fire had started on a private plot of land used as an illegal waste deposit.

The cause was combustion due to the "magnifying glass effect" produced by the weather conditions in the days prior to the fire. The arrested person was a resident of a close by town.

The Seprona and Pacprona teams in León announced on 18 August that a 69-year-old man from Ponferrada (León) had been investigated as the alleged perpetrator of a forest fire started on 10 August in the vicinity of Almázcara and Villaverde de los Cestos, in the municipality of Castropodame (León). It is believed that he had accidentally set the fire by recklessly clearing grassland.

On 7 August, the Guardia Civil received an alert about a possible fire in the municipality of Justel (Zamora), with the suspicion that there were several starting points.

Seprona's investigation discovered that a resident of the town of Quintanilla de Justel, who was driving towards the town of Justel, had been emitting incandescent waste through the exhaust pipe of the combustion engine of the agricultural vehicle he was using.

As a result of the fire, a total of 0.03 hectares of forest land were burned. The investigation concluded that it could have been a tractor in operation which, at some point, left the area without notifying the firefighting services, the police or the emergency services. A resident of the area of La Carballeda is under investigation.

The last person arrested is the alleged perpetrator of the fire that broke out on 24 August in Molinaseca (León). His arrest took place only one day later, on 25 August.

The investigators verified that the origin of the fire could be a bonfire made for cooking by the 75-year-old detainee.