New details have emerged about the young Moroccan man accused of setting a 17-year-old girl on fire in the Canary Islands. The 20-year-old suspect reportedly arrived on the island of Lanzarote in early June aboard an inflatable boat, part of a group of irregular migrants from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa. Local media report that an administrative deportation order was issued shortly after his arrival due to his undocumented status. However, the deportation was not carried out. Under current procedures, the man was given one month to appeal the decision, but he never did. During that time, he was housed in a temporary migrant shelter located in a military barracks in the La Isleta area, near the scene of the incident. He was reportedly entering and leaving the facility freely on a daily basis. Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect was in a romantic relationship with the 17-year-old girl, who was under the care of the Canary Islands government and living in a state-run shelter for minors. Authorities say she would frequently leave the shelter without authorization to meet him in an abandoned house in the same neighborhood. The shelter had previously reported her as missing several times. The incident took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning, when a fire broke out in the abandoned building on Roque Nublo street in Lanzarote. Emergency services discovered the girl with burns covering 95% of her body. The young man, who had suffered smoke inhalation, was also rescued. Both were taken to a local hospital, and the girl was later transferred to a specialized burn unit in Seville. Her condition remains critical, according to Spanish media. Despite her injuries, the girl was conscious when first responders arrived and managed to identify her attacker by name. This led the national police to launch an investigation, later classifying the case as an act of gender-based violence. As of Thursday evening, the suspect remained under police guard at Negrín Hospital, awaiting a court appearance once his condition stabilizes.
