Marcel S., aged 50 and a former German soldier, has been sentenced to eight years for fires that he started in summer 2019.
In the early hours of August 19, 2019, he set fire to the tyres of a vehicle belonging to the Ibanat agency that was in a car park in Esporles. On August 20, he started a fire that affected 7,120 square meters of forest land in Esporles. A few days later he started another forest fire in Esporles.
He denied involvement in the fires, but acknowledged that when he was arrested on August 26 he was carrying ignition tablets. He explained that at that time he was of no fixed abode and that he slept in the mountains or in a park.
A Guardia Civil officer told the court that among his belongings were 26 ignition tablets, four lighters and a knife. In his wallet were three bus tickets that coincided with the dates on which the fires occurred and receipts from shops where he had bought the tablets. Marcel S. told investigators that he used the tablets for lighting barbecues.
A witness explained that on the afternoon of August 24, when the third fire was started, he saw a man on a private road on three occasions. He was smoking and his description matched that of Marcel S.
In a squat in Banyalbufar, a notebook was found in which he had written in German: "When I act, it is with the intention of causing as much damage as possible."
The Provincial Court in Palma concluded that while there was no direct proof that Marcel S. had been the author of the events, there was sufficient circumstantial evidence.