Juanma Moreno calls for harsher penalties for arsonists following wave of fires in Tarifa

President of the Andalusian regional government Juanma Moreno has called for a "clear and decisive toughening" of the penalties for arsonists, who endanger "natural and personal heritage", as has happened in the latest fire in Tarifa. Both Moreno and regional minister Antonio Sanz have stated that the evidence points that the fire was "intentional".

In an interview on Cope radio, Moreno said that, after the investigations by the Guardia Civil and the Andalusian police, "everything indicates that the fire was intentional". He highlighted the difficulties related to arresting and sentencing an arsonist, whose crimes face "innocuous penalties".

Moreno said that the second fire in Tarifa in two weeks, which started on Monday, 11 August, was "the most complicated fire that the Andalusian forest fire fighting service (Infoca) has had to deal with in recent years". The situation was even more complicated, because the fire reached "just four metres from the houses" scattered around the Atlanterra area, "with families spending their holidays" there.

Moreno also stressed the need to widen the N-340, which he described as "a death trap" and an obstacle in the evacuation of 2,000 people "in record time". According to Moreno, if it weren't for the efficiency of the teams deployed in the area, the situation could have turned into a tragedy.

Moreno thanked the personnel who worked to extinguish both fires, stressing that the Junta de Andalucía continuously invests in increasing "the number of professionals within the Infoca plan". The last investment has increased the number to 4,700. To compare, the number of workers within the military emergency unit (Ume), which serves the whole of Spain, is 3,500. In addition, the Infoca in Andalucía has 40 aerial vehicles. The region's resources make it prepared to face such crises and allow it to help other regions, as it is currently doing in Extremadura.