News
A chain of fires burns out 14 cars near the Sagrada Família and alarms the neighbourhood
The early hours have been particularly tense around the Sagrada Familia. Several virtually simultaneous fires left fourteen cars, one motorbike and a bin completely burnt out on different streets in the neighbourhood, creating unusual scenes even for an area accustomed to the constant activity of the Eixample.
It all happened at around 4.30 in the morning. Some residents began to hear explosions and see flames coming from parked vehicles at different points very close to one another. Within minutes, several streets were lit up by the fire while the Bombers tried to prevent the flames from continuing to spread among parked cars.
The outbreaks appeared in areas such as Còrsega with Sardenya, Sicília, Lepant and Indústria, a relatively small radius that is now at the centre of the police investigation. The simultaneity of the fires and the distance between some points lead investigators to think the fires may have been started deliberately.
Although nobody was injured, the scene this Wednesday remained striking. Some vehicles were reduced to completely black metal frames and several streets woke up cordoned off, with remains of glass, burnt plastic and a strong smell of smoke still in the air.
The Mossos d’Esquadra do not rule out the work of an arsonist, although there have been no arrests so far. Security cameras in the area and possible accounts from residents who may have seen suspicious movements during the early hours are also being investigated.
The episode has caused considerable concern among neighbourhood residents, especially because many of the fires occurred on narrow, densely inhabited streets where the fire could have had much more serious consequences if it had reached façades or premises.
The Sagrada Familia area combines residential life, tourism and constant activity at practically any hour of the day. That combination means incidents such as this have an immediate impact on the neighbourhood's sense of safety, especially when they occur at dawn and in such a coordinated way.
In a city where there is increasing debate about coexistence, safety and urban pressure in certain neighbourhoods, images like those from this night leave an uncomfortable feeling: destroyed cars, residents waking up to sirens and several streets of the Eixample turned for hours into an almost unreal scene.