On March 6, the Valencia Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of the National Police reported to Valencia’s Instruction Court No. 9, which handles the investigations into the Campanar fire, that the criminal or delinquent etiology of the blaze could be ruled out. This determination was echoed by the Valencia Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office, which stated that preliminary inquiries indicate the fire at the buildings on Rafael Alberti Street No. 2 in Valencia did not originate from criminal or illicit activity. This joint assessment from the police and the public prosecutor’s office has framed the early stage of the inquiry as one focused on non-criminal causes, with investigators pursuing the concrete origin of the fire without presupposing criminal responsibility. [Citation: Fiscalía Provincial de Valencia]
Following this information, Instruction Court No. 9 provisionally granted a temporary dismissal of the proceedings, while awaiting the completion of ongoing police investigations and analyses. The investigations will continue in parallel to resolving the case, even though the court has archived the proceedings for now, aiming to clarify the exact origin of the fire if new evidence emerges. [Citation: Fiscalía Provincial de Valencia]
The judge noted in the archival order that, since the investigations did not establish any penal responsibility within the court’s competence, the case should be provisionally dismissed, subject to the lifting of the secrecy ordered by Instruction Court No. 10 in Valencia. This step reflects the court’s determination that there is no basis for proceeding on criminal grounds at this stage of the matter. [Citation: Fiscalía Provincial de Valencia]
The same court has authorized insurer access to the damaged building under police supervision. This permission is intended to facilitate the necessary inspections so that those affected can receive compensation, with the understanding that the insurer’s expert work will not interfere with the police investigations. [Citation: Fiscalía Provincial de Valencia]
In the ongoing proceedings, the presence of insurers and the storefront bazaar located in the building’s basement has already been recorded. The magistrate explained that, given a legitimate interest, the insurers’ assessors, with their policy documents, may be admitted to the building, provided the court issues a list of the experts for their entry, and the access is supervised by the relevant police unit. [Citation: Fiscalía Provincial de Valencia]