It took firefighters six hours to extinguish a blaze at a scrapyard on the Guadalhorce industrial estate in Málaga.
The fire started just outside the compound containing 150 cars ready to be turned into scrap metal and although the firefighters had the blaze under control within two hours, it was six hours before it was completely extinguished. All the cars were severely damaged and the owners put their losses at between €40,000 and €50,000.
The area outside the yard is a favourite haunt of prostitutes, their debris littering the area, and it is thought that a carelessly discarded cigarette or a candle used on cold nights was the source of the blaze.