A group of daytrippers has confessed to starting the fire that killed 11 firefighters in central Spain on Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said today.
The group of 10 told the Civil Guard that its barbecue in a nature reserve of pine woodland in the Guadalajara province east of Madrid ignited the fire, said a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry of the Castilla y La Mancha region.
Only the person who lit the barbecue faces formal charges pending further investigation, she said.
The firefighters - men and women ranging in age from 24 to 52 - died after they were trapped in the fire on Sunday when a change of wind altered the direction of the flames. Only two of the 11 bodies have been formally identified, Ms Vallejo said.
Fuelled by high temperatures and dry conditions, fires destroy large stretches of woodland in Spain and neighbouring Portugal every summer. Spain is also suffering from its worst drought since officials began keeping records in the late 1940s.