The Policía Nacional in Granada have arrested two excursionists, suspected of having caused the hillfire near San Miguel Alto near the city.

The fire, which began just after four in the afternoon close to the Camino de la Ermita, encroached dangerously close to the Abadía del Sacromonte as firefighters struggled to bring it under control.

The fire started on San Miguel Alto, next to the historic areas of Sacromonte and the Albaicín causing Infoca to roll out fire-fighting units to back the city’s fire services. At least five helicopters were needed to bring the fire under control

The main concern that the firefighters had was to keep the fire away from the Abadía del Sacromonte – this historical, religious building had already been affected by a fire in the year 2000.

The smoke and flames  were clearly visible from down in the city, causing quite a bit of consternation.

As for the two arrested individuals, the police suspect that they had decided to light a BBQ and things had got out of control.

Update 08.30h: 120 people and three heavy firefighting vehicles were used all through the night to tackle the fire, with reinforcemens from Málaga and Almería being called in.

The fire is now officially “controlado” meaning that there are no flames but fire could break out again, so they are working on cooling down the hotspots. It is estimated that 100 hectares of hillside were consumed by the fire.

The arrested suspects are a young couple who had been camping in the area (which is not permitted) and had lit a camp fire.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, andalucia)