A fire has destroyed an elevating work platform on the Punta Margalla promenade in Torrevieja. The machine had been used by the contractor carrying out a council-ordered inspection of a municipal inventory of 5,000 palm trees after a fatal palm collapse on the CV-905. The blaze began just after 13:30 in the vehicle’s lower section and spread through the tyres, the Provincial Fire Consortium has said. Six firefighters from Torrevieja attended, backed by Local Police and Guardia Civil; the machine was stationary and awaiting collection by its owner.

The inspection work has been under way for more than a week and goes beyond visual checks. Operatives have been taking crown samples, tapping trunks to detect hollowness and drilling small holes to extract material to find larvae and adult red palm weevil. Crews had worked along the seafront promenades Vista Alegre and Juan Aparicio and were advancing north along Punta Margalla when the fire occurred. The smoke rose in first-line coastal areas and was visible from Los Locos beach, alerting residents.

The contractor has said inspections can continue in other parts of the municipality using hired machinery. In the same area a separate fire has destroyed a motorcycle and caused material damage to two balconies of a nearby building; that second incident has not been reported by the Provincial Fire Consortium. The council-ordered inventory follows the death of a young man when a palm tree collapsed on 15 November; that tree had been found to be affected by red palm weevil.