Collserola fire controlled after burning 10 hectares; suspect detained near Barcelona
A forest fire that broke out on Friday afternoon in Barcelona's Collserola sierra burned approximately 10 hectares before being stabilized around 18:00, with one man detained on suspicion of starting the blaze.
Fire breaks out on Sant Pere Màrtir
A forest fire was declared on Friday, 14 August, shortly after 15:30 on the mountain of Sant Pere Màrtir, in the Collserola sierra, near the carretera de les Aigües, on the boundary between the municipalities of Barcelona and Esplugues de Llobregat. The alert was received at 15:35. The flames originated in the municipal area of Barcelona and subsequently advanced toward Esplugues, reaching the zone near tennis facilities, where extinction teams managed to halt them. The smoke column was visible from several municipalities across the metropolitan area. The fire burned approximately 10 hectares of the natural park and was stabilized and controlled around 18:00, with no injuries reported. The impact on Esplugues was described as minimal pending a final assessment.
Emergency response and access restrictions
Barcelona City Council activated the Municipal Action Plan (PAM) for Forest Fires in emergency phase. The mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat, Eduard Sanz, confirmed that the fire had affected the municipality and that municipal services had been activated. The Local Police preventively evacuated the Espai Mireia and regulated access to Collserola. Esplugues Town Council coordinated the municipal resources deployed in the operation, with Civil Protection also collaborating. Bombers de Barcelona directed the device with the support of Bombers de la Generalitat. According to LaVanguardia, 21 fire crews participated in the extinction tasks, four of them aerial; El Periódico reported a total of around thirty terrestrial crews including aerial units. Emergency teams continued reviewing and cooling the perimeter through the evening, maintaining vigilance against possible reactivations. Access to Collserola remained closed, with authorities asking the public to respect the restrictions.
- Fire declared on Sant Pere Màrtir near carretera de les Aigües, between Barcelona and Esplugues de Llobregat
- Alert received; Guardia Urbana patrol spots suspect near avinguda Pearson
- Fire stabilized and controlled after burning approximately 10 hectares
Suspect detained near the origin
A Guardia Urbana patrol on routine rounds along avinguda Pearson, near where the fire originated, spotted a man behaving suspiciously and leaving the area quickly, within minutes of the first flames being detected. Officers ordered him to stop, identified him after he could not explain what he was doing there, and found two lighters among his belongings. Several witnesses who were in the same area in the moments before the fire started provided accounts to the patrol about what the suspect was doing, which increased the evidence against him. The information was passed to the Mossos d'Esquadra, who detained the man and took charge of the investigation. Agentes Rurals are also involved in determining the causes of the fire.
Collserola smoke on a Camp Nou livestream
Èric Cerveto, a 33-year-old resident of the Les Corts neighbourhood in Barcelona, has spent months livestreaming the Camp Nou stadium renovation from his 12th-floor balcony, which offers direct views of the construction site. His broadcasts, available on YouTube and Instagram under the account name @CampNouNow, began as videos to show friends how the remodelling was progressing and grew into a project followed by thousands of people. On Friday, his static camera, normally pointed at the Camp Nou works, captured the smoke column from the Collserola fire in the background of the live feed, entering the broadcast unexpectedly.
