Residents of Salobreña were surprised see a pale of black smoke towering over the Punto Limpio installations in the north of the municipality.

The smoke, which was clearly visible to residents of Lobres, Molvizar and Motril’s Playa Granada, rose in a dense column and then mushroomed out.

The fire behind such dense smoke was within the Punto Limpio installations, which is a non-domestic-waste, refuse centre, destined to take building waste and discarded household furniture etc.

As was made obvious by the kind of smoke, the source of the fire was rubber or plastic. When we arrived 18.30h at the plant, the Policía Local informed us that a pile of used tyres was burning.

The Motril fire service had at least three vehicles at the fire scene, one of which was a heavy fire truck which was still dousing down the fire. According to the Policía Local, the fire originated around 17.30h.

The Punto Limpio’s main office-building appears to be in a state of semi-abandonment with graffiti inside and access to the yard did not present any problem for the curious wishing to nose around. Given this lack of vigilance it would be an easy target for vandalism.

Had the source of the fire been dry vegetation, then it could easily have been accidental but as tyres are not the easiest things to “accidentally” set fire to, the obvious deduction is most likely the correct one; i.e., this was a case of arson. However, this has to be confirmed so it remains as speculation.

(News: Salobreña, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)