BARCELONA is set to install nearly a hundred security cameras in strategic areas of the city, in a fresh move to strengthen security and stamp out crime.
The devices will be concentrated in areas flagged by police as hotspots for criminal activity and anti-social behaviour.
The new CCTV cameras will be in place by the end of the year.
The cameras form part of Barcelona’s video surveillance plan, which aims to bring the citywide total of security cameras from 186 to 660 by 2027.
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The scheme will cover a total of 34 locations, just over 5% of Barcelona’s total area.
Deputy Mayor for Prevention and Security, Albert Batlle, announced some of the new locations on Tuesday.
Devices are set to go up in El Born (nine cameras), the Carmel Bunkers (eleven cameras), the Olympic Ring (thirty cameras), Encants and Fort Pienc (thirty cameras), and Pegaso Park.
Although smaller than some of the other locations, Pegaso Park will be among the most heavily monitored areas, with 19 new cameras.
In July, the park was the scene of a gang-linked murder that shook the neighbourhood.
However, Batlle has clarified that cameras were already planned for the area long before the incident took place.
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Batlle has also assured the public that the cameras carry no AI facial recognition technology, in line with strict EU and Spanish data protection rules.
The new CCTV cameras, officials say, serve a double purpose — deterring future crime, and helping investigators gather evidence when incidents do happen.
The new devices are pending final authorisation from Catalonia’s video surveillance oversight commission, but are expected to be up and running before the year is out.
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